Foxbite
by stuntbutt
Summary: what would happen if Hinata got some unconventinal advice from Anko? set after Snakebite. contains lemon.
1. Chapter 1

FOXBITE

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, this is tonight's entertainment. I have only one question. How obvious is it that I am a batman fan and a massive geek?

Hello to everyone, readers old and new. This is a new story that was meant to be a short two chapter fic but as you can tell my definition of short is a bit loose. This blasted thing has just grown and grown, it's not even finished yet. What we have here was originally going to be the first chapter with the story being wrapped up in the second. But I enjoyed myself too much and really wanted to make this one of my best fics. Also I started this thing about a last Christmas. That's right I've been working on this for a year.

The main reason for this is that I'm lazy. But I've found a new method to getting it done, writing in a note pad when I'm at work. Seriously I've got nothing better to do sometimes. So if anyone from work is reading this and thinks about going to a foreman I've got only one thing to ask.

What the hell are you doing reading a lemon fan fic? If I go down I'm taking you with me. To every body else enjoy, and I know where you live. (no I don't).

Before you finish reading my deranged ramblings just fair warning. This is a lemon fic and it does not get straight into it. there is quite a lot of stuff on Anko. This was mainly because I just like the character and wrote a lot about her. But don't worry I did it in such away to push the plot along. (like there is a plot.)

Also apart form this fic, Half demon Havoc, and a few other long fics I have in mind, im going to work to a word limit so I so writing a ridiculous amount for a short story.

Yep that should work.

So thanks for dropping by again.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto but they do as I command… (woof) that felt good.

The pre-midday sunlight cascaded through the widows, caressing everything it touched with its caring warmth. Bird flittered joyfully outside the window, their pure song filling the air with love and happiness. A leisurely breeze gently blew, making flowers sway in a merry dance, sending their sweet smell so that it could be given to all. It truly was a wondrous day, the type that made a person soul sing with joy.

Anko's eyes snapped open. An incredulous look spread across her face as she caught her self thinking such sappy thoughts. She was at the Konoha academy, relaxing in the empty staff room, leaning back on a chair with her hands folded behind her head and her feet propped up on a table, waiting the spend lunch with her boyfriend, Iruka, one of the teachers at the academy who's job it was to try and teach the future ninjas of the village, that alone deserved an award in Anko's mind. She never had the temperament to be a teacher. Yes, she had taken young ninjas on mission with her leading the way, but that was after they had been trained up from snot nosed kids into professionals, well most of them. She could still think of a few who seemed not that grownup, even with years of training underneath some of the most brilliant, and patience, teachers in the whole village, but then she never did grow up entirely either. While some, if not most, people grew up in some measure to become reasonable, responsible adults there were those who hit a certain age and would not grow up any further. Anko was one of those people who had stopped early. Sure physical she had matured in to the sultry beauty that she now was but at heart she was still the wild child that she was in her late teens. Anko heaved a heavy sigh, causing her ample chest to swell against her tan coloured coat, as she thought back on her earlier life.

When she first joined the academy she was what people would call a bundle of energy. She was always smiling and her enthusiasm never seemed to dull, even when she failed at a task. A joke was always been told, gossip was spread like warm butter and a prank was always in the works. She never had any true friends but this was only because she was to busy trying to talk to everybody. If anything was going on in the academy Anko just had to know about it, always joining in conversations and inviting herself to lunch with people. At first people would try to push away this bubbly dark haired girl but her mischievous grin and her equally mischievous eyes would eventually wear people down and she was in. she would instantly become the center of attention, not that she would deliberately try to steal the spotlight it was just that her force of personality always blazed through. If anyone ever wanted to find Anko all they had to do was listen for the sounds of howling laughter and the sniggers of a rude joke. And those people were usually the teachers of the academy.

While Anko was the life of the trainee ninja community she was the bane of the teaching staff. The problem was that someone with that much energy could not bare to stay still for very long. So when a teacher had a class that contained Anko Mitarashi they had to be prepared for the worst after the first five minutes. Sure it was expected that young ninjas would act up, they were in the process of learning the skills to be ninjas and they tend to test their developing skills in interesting ways. But there were those who would take it too far. A scar faced boy was practically bad but it was the girl with the spark in her eye that took the championship.

It would always start the same, she would sit down in the lesson and be as attentive as the best in the class but it would all start to go down hill from there. First she would rest her head on her hands then she would sigh, completely bored with what ever the teacher was droning on about. Then paper planes and toy kunis would start to fly around the room and a whispering conversation would start before Anko got bored of that and started a conversation at her normal volume, which was ear splittingly loud. At this point the teacher would lose their temper, snap the chalk in their hands and yell at the class and her. This would only fuel her mischievous ways as she found the irritation of what she though as the "stiffs" incredibly funny. She saw their rules as a challenge against her, no one ever beat Anko, they may knock her down but she would never stay down. She often boasted to the other students that she would never know true defeat.

At an attempt to 'clam her down', as they had said, they gave her one on one tutoring in class but that was like trying to contain an exploding note inside a biscuit tin. If she wanted to have a wild time in class she would, even if it was by herself. Many top grade tutors tried and failed to teach Anko one on one and all of them failed. It was said that the owner of the drugs store in Konoha made a killing in aspirin when a new tutor was assigned to Anko.

The main problem and cause of headaches for the teachers was that she had all the makings of a good ninja, if she could just get her act together and study. In practical tests she gave it her all and could nail any task giving to her. She could throw hard and accurately, her jutsu work was exceptional and she almost always floored her opponent in sparring. But she absolutely bombed in the theory side of things. Most of the academy tutors had wrote her off as a lost caused, she would become a formidable warrior but a poor ninja. All the tutors bar one, the man with the chalk white skin and the serpent eyes.

Anko frowned, and felt her blood begin to boil, as she remembered her old sensei. Even thought she now knew that she ran away, not thrown away like a broken weapon as she was lead to believe, the memoirs still provoked the same reaction that she had felt when she had realized what he had done. When he asked her to become his student she was uninterested to say the least, figuring he would just be like the others who had tried to take her under their wing, but she agreed mainly she was bored and could do with winding up the pale skinned man. She had a shock during their first lesson. Never once did they go inside a class room, all of their sessions were held outside.

She thought it was going to be another ordinary practical session but as the first kuni flew towards her he asked her a question for her classes. She dodged the kuni but never bothered to answer the question. He asked why she never answers and she said there was no time to think about silly thinks like that during a fight. She expected him to either yell at her or give a long winded speech about the importance of knowledge, he did neither. He simple smirked and hit her with a jutsu. It took instant effect and she was unable to move freely, it felt like she was knee deep in tar, even thought she was stood straight. For the rest of the lesson, which lasted several hours, he asked the same question over and over while flinging more and more kunis and shurikens at her while she tried her best to deflected or evade them. By the end of the session she was on her knees, covered in dozens of bloody cuts and beaten. He casually walked over to her as she raised her head and looked at him with furious eyes. The same smirk played on his lips as she started to think of retorts and comebacks, ready for the pompous speech he was about to give.

"Here, tomorrow, same time." Was all he said and he walked away. She glared at his back as she picked her self up and went home to heal herself, not in the mood to talk to anyone. Anko refused to give in to him and was there on time for the next session. It never changed, they would begin a regular practical exercise but he would then start to ask her questions. But when she refused or could not answer he use a jutsu she had not chance or escaping or countering. This carried on for weeks until she actually got a book and looked up the answer.

The next session when he asked she told the answer and he smiled. Anko allowed herself a smug grin of satisfaction, right until he slapped another jutsu on her. She was shocked and furious, she had answered his stupid question but he still punished her as if she had just ignored it again. What was he some sort of sadist? As she struggled her mind ran over and over the situation until she figured it out. The answer was linked to the jutsu she was trapped in. It was more advanced version of the she had just given proper escape from, her mind raced as she pieced together the different answers she had collected for his questions and with a flash of hand seals she broke the jutsu, a jutsu no one in her age group would even begin to understand.

Her teacher smiled and told her that she did well. Then he asked a new question. Her mind raced for an answer but none came to the surface. She knew what happened next and braced her self for the new and more powerful jutsu. Once again she tired and beaten at the end of their session but this time she was smiling, he was not trying to beat her; he was teaching her that the serious gaps in her knowledge would get het killed one day. With more brutal training sessions she was able to counter almost anything he threw at her, apart from his most advanced techniques. When she reached this stage he informed her that she was finally ready to learn. She had started yelling at this statement. She had learned to break out of all the jutsu he placed on her. A chuckle had escaped his mouth as he told her that they were nothing, that she needed to be taught how to learn before he could teach her anything. After this they only spared every so often as he began to teach her things she never knew she could learn, and she learnt it very quickly.

Now she began to fully realize her potential as she raced thought her lesson. The other teachers began to see her as a promising ninja and had great praise for her tutor. Soon after graduating her tutor start to take her on mission with only him. While it was dangerous for her to be going on high classed missions in a two man team, even if one member was an exceptional ninja, she would not have it any other way. She learning more than she could possible imaging and she began to greatly look up to her teacher. She had complete trust and faith in the man who had shaped her into a formidable ninja, and a deadly weapon. And then it happened.

Looking back on it now Anko, as she had many times, she realized that she should have saw it back then. The look in his eyes had said it all; she just did not see it at the time. He did not care about her. She had seen the way other teachers looked at their students. They all had a measure of pride and even love, even the most hard and ridged of them, when they saw their students grow and progress. But he never did. Those cold eyes said it all back then. He was grooming her, making her strong so that she might have a chance of surviving what he was going to put her through , along with nine others who foolishly believe that they were being made stronger, thought they were going to help the village.

It had hurt so badly. It wasn't the pain of the bite or the searing of her nerves as the black chakra slithers and crawled its way along her body, it was the betrayal. It felt like she had been kicked in the head, stab in the heart and had her guts ripped out of her all of the same time. The kick made her head numb, mind too dizzy to make heads or tails of the situation. The great pit in her stomach made her feel empty, like there was no way to fill it. But the stab in the heart was the worst, it let her know that she had been hurt in a way like before, the type of hurt that leaves on visible marks but would scar her like the sharpest blade. On that day she did grow up, too fast, forced to stare into the cold face of human cruelty. The fire of her exuberance what doused with water so cold it made her soul shiver. When she returned to the village she tried to keep the same old smile on her face, tried to still laugh the same, tried to be everybody's friend. But the way they looked her now made it impossible. Everyone that she had known in the academy regarded her like she was somewhat dangerous, like _she_ was the one that had betrayed them. There had been an investigation in what had happened in the Sea country, she had been found completely innocent, but people thought she was somehow tainted by his actions.

The smile slipped, the laugh faded, becoming mocking and hollow, and the friends shuffled away. She soon fell deeper into her sadness; a few people tried to bring her out of it but gave up soon after they first tried. The pit that she had fallen into was so deep and so dark she doubted that the reached feeling with in her would ever go away; fore there was no fire with in her to burn it away. For the first time in her young life Anko had know true defeat, he had beaten her.

After what seemed a life time the fire started to burn once again. But it was still not the same joy warmth that it once was, this was a furious determination the raged through out her. It filled her with a hate so intense that when people saw how she had become they looked at her like she was about to start murdering people. But Anko did not care. For the first time since the betrayal she felt something on the inside again and see was glad, even if it was a burning rage she was just glad to be feeling something again.

She started to train hard again, harder than ever, just so that she could find him one day and let him know that he was wrong to believe that he had beaten her, she would prove herself so much stronger than he thought. But she had tried too hard. Every waking moment was filled with thoughts of revenge as she pushed her body and mind past their limits. The fire burning within was consuming her and nobody saw her burn except the people that Anko would in time called friends, never to their faces, but they pulled her back from the bring of insanity and suffering. But the new fire was not the only thing that came with after her time in the Sea country.

Along with her lust for revenge, Anko developed a somewhat anarchistic and self-destructive side to her personality. When she was not breaking her back training, Anko could be found in the wrong parts of Konoha at night, picking fights and drinking too much of things that she should not be drinking. Her life had become about retribution and pleasure. This was not to say that she started to sleep around with people, it was just that she enjoyed the rowdy company, partly because they did not care about anything other enjoying themselves but mainly for the fights that her new friends seemed to attract. Anko would join the loudest group she could find, join in, and wait for the fights to start.

Now drunken brawls are an ugly sight, most ninjas view people who participated in them as truly pathetic fighters, but add in a volatile young konuchi who is not as drunk as every one believes, well then you have some of the world worst one sided fights. In those hurricane years ( I just love Alice Cooper) Anko spent most of her time going between the hospital, to have her many injuries treated, back to the bars, where she would pick up more but inflict worse upon who ever crossed her path on those nights.

As she grew older and filled out, Anko found her self attracting the attention of quite a few of the 'bad boys' who occupied her favorite haunts and hang outs. Now Anko refused point black to sleep with any of these men but found if she attached herself to one or two they would bring more fights to her, or she could always beat up her 'man' when she got bored with them and would not take the hint to go away. The men did not seem to care; they got to say that they were going out with a hot chick who could wipe the floor with anyone. It was soon that Anko realized that the 'one or two' that she had originally thought about turned out to be 'ten or twelve'. She went through boyfriends at that stage of her life at a ferocious rate, what they did determined how just how short there short relationship would last.

Anko leaned back further on the chair, pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a groan. What had she been thinking of at the time? She knew now that her choice of boyfriends in her early life had been more damaging to her reputation and how people thought of her than all the fighting and swearing that she did. But at the time she did not care one bit. It was at this time that people started to spread rumors that she was easy and up for anything. While she never slept with any of those men, it did not stop them saying things about her while they went out with her, or when she broke up with them, painfully. Apparently all it took for the rumors to spread was for a few of her ex-boyfriends and to have been seen making out, that was as far as she went with any of them, and she was branded for life as a slut, or so she thought at the time.

If the people who tried to help her, or stick their over sized noses into her business, as Anko had thought at the time, mentioned anything about her choice in fiends they would be lucky to walk away with two black eyes and a bloody nose and that was if she was in good mood, which was never. When the Third Hokage had come to her during training she was convinced that she was going to get a lecture on her 'lose morals' which she did not mind, it would be interesting to see if she could land a hit on the older ninja. But their conversation did not go the way that she thought that it would. The old man did not judge her at all; he also did not rise to any of her insults or declarations that she did not give a shit about anything. He just stood there and took in every thing that she said and told her the one thing that she needed to hear.

"What happened is not your fault, none of it. But your quest for revenge will destroy you and when that happens he has truly won." Those words echoed around her mind to this day. They were simple and not what she was expecting from the leader of the village, but they were what she needed to hear. She just needed to someone to tell her that with out judging her to be some sort of deviant. Her reaction had shocked her but it did not shock the kind old man, she feel to her knees and cried. She had never cried so hard in her entire life, her image and anger did not allow it. But all of that did not matter, as the Third Hokage took her in a comforting embrace, and let his shoulder soak up her tears, she poured out everything that was slowly destroying her in between sobs.

She never told anyone what she had said to the Third, that was between them and no one was going to know in detail about that day that Anko had been rescued from herself, but soon she got herself back together. The fights stopped, now the only fights she had were when she sparred, her drinking was cut back to a few quite drinks in a nicer bar. While the Third never became a close friend to Anko, he was the first person that helped her and could trust with her feelings. He made it possible for her to regain some of the bubbly personality that she displayed before _him._

She was able to get on with some of the people she worked with, most were still scared of her because of the fearsome attitude she had developed, and even more shocked to see it mix with a more easygoing and bubble manner, but they could work with her and eventually trust her and count her as a loyal member of the leaf.

The next person was beautiful and irritating Kurenai Yuhi. She knew her from the academy, she seemed to like to talk as much as she did back then, but she never really got to know her and Anko had not talked to her in years. They were both waiting to see the Hokage when the red eyed lady stuck up a conversation with Anko. Anko managed to hold a polite conversation, well as polite as Anko could get, and thought that it would stop as soon as they went their separate ways. But Kurenai had other plans. She invited Anko for a drink that night and Anko wearily accepter, expecting some form of trick or something, no one ever offered to invite out with them unless they wanted something.

It was quite a shock when Anko found that she got on very well with this woman. Kurenai was very different from Anko, she was calm and reserved and balanced were Anko was aggressive, out spoken and a little too wild sometimes. She never thought she could get along well with that type of person. But she did and Kurenai became her first true friend close to her age, and she desperately needed someone she could trust because her choice in boyfriends was leaving a bitter taste in her mouth. While they were a far cry away from the types of men she used to date during her violent teens they were no angels. She always seemed to attract perverts and the semi-acceptable scum of the leaf. And scum seemed to fall into three category types.

The first were the perverts. While she turned down most of them, sometimes in a moment of weakness, or as Anko thought madness, she would date some of them. Anko never just slept with one and just left him for another, the current one would always do something to really up set her. The most common was believe that she was a slut and would try to get her to do things that she did not want to, this was quickly followed by a kick in the groin followed with a swift kick up the ass, straight out the door, even if she was staying at their home.

The second were the pretty boys. Those there were the two occasions that she had walked in on her current partner and found them in bed with another woman. They were both very handsome and charming but also thought themselves each to be the ladies men of the village. While they never knew each other, and there was a gap of a few months in between when Anko dated them, they both had the same type of smile and used similar pick up lines. Anko was very pleased with the first pretty boy since she was used to getting attention from the more unwashed members of the male sex, but she was a bit more wary of the second one. But number two's charms had won her over, or that was what he liked to believe, and she made the same mistake a second time. After those two she never took up a pretty boy up on his offer again, she realized that those types of men were all the same. If it was not for a provocative tattoo on the crotch area of the first one Anko could have sworn that she was dating the same guy a second time. The only good thing to come out those two relationships was that she got to inflict her most creative revenge on the two of them.

The third type was the worst. Anko tamers. Those were the men that had their brains either in their biceps or pants, most of the time both. Those men either privately or publicly say that they had tamed the great Mitarashi Anko and made her their woman. That she would do anything they said, when they said it. Anko really hated those types. They told stories that they broken her, defeated her. Even if it was not their intention of their stories, they mostly just said them to show off to their moronic friends, they reminded Anko of those terrible years, and that made her really mad. Her revenge on them lacked any sort of grace or planning. She would just find them when they were telling their friends how great they were, interrupt and give them a smile that would not be out of place on a demon. What followed would be a savage and brutal beating, the kind that left a lot of broken furniture one ex-boyfriend a blood mess on the floor, lucky if they did not have to be rushed to hospital. She almost felt bad after she had ruthlessly beaten one of them senseless. Not because she had done it, but because she had lost control and let the darkest part of her surface, the side she had gotten from _him_!

Anko's voluptuous chest heaved against her tan coat as she let out a sigh, internally chiding herself for letting the memories of those dirt bags getting her so worked up. The bitter taste that they had all left in her mouth had long since been washed away and replaced by her Iruka. If she had to descried the taste of her loving boyfriend she would have to say it was sweet but not sickly, strong but not overpowering and gentle but by no means weak. Since she had started going out with the teacher Anko found her self gaining more and more of her lost personality. She found it easier and less annoying to be nice to strangers, holding off judgment until she knew them better instead of every one being a complete asshole on sight. She also found it easier to relax, like she was doing now, and was ecstatic that all aspects of her relationship, both sexual and none sexual, were perfect and did not bore her in away way like her past dealings in love had done. And her sex life was brilliant. Iruka had a knack for knowing what she wanted and how to deliver it. Plus, it wasn't always bed slamming, ear splitting sex. No, Anko had gotten to know what people really meant when they called sex 'making love'. Anko truly enjoyed a soft touch as much as the usual, and unusual, kinky sex that they both liked. She had been remembering last night's gentle passion.

A small giggle escaped Anko's mouth as she placed her hands behind her head again; closing her eyes as a dreamy smile formed out of the remained of the scowl she had been wearing a few minutes ago.

She had been lying on the bed, quietly reading a scroll, wearing a tee-shirt and soft cotton shorts when she had felt a feathery brush against her thigh. She looked up from her reading and a pair of soft lips met hers as two strong arms pulled her softly against the warm chest of her boyfriend. Iruka kissed her as his hands traced light spirals over the curves of her body every so often find their way to her rear to lovingly massage her delicious rump. He rolled her onto her back and then moved his lips to her neck and softly suckled and licked at the tender flesh, causing low moans to escape her mouth. His hands now traced over her front now Anko felt her skin heat up beneath the fabric. She had begun to moan louder now and started to grind her hips, urging Iruka to do more. But he did not increase pressure or pace; he really liked fore-play, but instead moved down to the bottom of her tee-shirt.

He hooked his fingers under her tee-shirt and slowly pulled it up, taking his time to kiss the newly exposed flesh as he inched it up further. Only when the tee-shirt was removed did her spend some time with Anko's chest. After a few minutes of tortuous teasing, gently blowing and kissing round the erogenous areas, Iruka took one of her nipples in his mouth and grasped the other in his hand, using the same caring touch as he had done with the rest of her body causing her to taking short hissing breaths as pleasure flowed and seeped all through her body. After lavishing some attention on her breasts, Iruka then inched his lips down towards Anko's lower region, with Anko whimpering more and more as he neared the place that she really wanted him to be. When he reached the top of her shorts he repeated the same action that he had done with her tee-shirt, only this time he had her long, smooth, gorgeously toned legs to shower his affection upon. After slipping the shorts completely off and sucking on her toes, her lover then ran his tongue all the way down the inside of her leg, stopping just in front of her simple black panties. Anko moaned deeply as Iruka gave one long, hard lick to the black cotton over her most precious spot before slipping them of as well.

The chunin slowly delved deeply into her with his tongue, eliciting more moans now as he gentle worked over her most sensitive area. Once he got her close to climax he entered her, and began to slowly roll his hips into her. She matched his rhythm as they kissed deeply. Each roll, loving word and caressing hand brought her closer. Closer to the edge until…

Continues in the next chapter, right where this one leaves off.


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2.

"Reliving last night's sordid sex session?" inquired a playful voice. Anko flicked one eye open and beheld her best friend Kurenai leaning against the door frame with her arms folded and a quirky smile as she regarded the daydreaming jounin.

"Actually we did it slow last night." Replied Anko.

"Wow. That must have been boring." Said Kurenai with a chuckle as she sat down opposite her friend. Anko lifted her legs and let her chair fall forward with a clatter back into its correct position as she propped her chin on her hands.

"You kidding? It was Heavenly." The dreamy smile that now adorned Anko's face may Kurenai cock an eyebrow. Anko was obviously completely lost in her memories.

"Now that's something I'd never thought I'd see." Said Kurenai.

"What?" said Anko, snapping out of the memory of being in Iruka's arms. "See What?"

"You gazing off into the distance with a sweet smile, a smile not a smirk. Your acting like a love struck student." Replied Kurenai with a smirk.

"You're one to talk." Shot back Anko, jabbing an accusing finger at the illusionist. "During our time here you spent most of your time sighing and mooning about who ever the hot guy of the week was."

Arguments, like the one, were common between the two konuchi. Whenever the two were together, whether in public or private, insults and accusations would start flying. Although it may look like a battle of wits and words between two bitter rivals, due to the horrendously colourful language used, it was just how the two communicated and bonded. For those who knew the female jounin they could easily see laughter in their eyes and the real humour hidden within the mocking grins.

Kurenai found out when she tried to become friends with Anko that the aggressive woman did not believe most people when they tried to be nice to her, due to have been tricked and deceived soon many times into having her feeling hurt that it was better to insult her. After a while Anko trusted Kurenai and they could actually have an ordinary conversation about personal matters but Kurenai found that it was enormous fun to continue their banter battles so they carried them on to this day. Kurenai only knew one person, Iruka, who Anko had believed right from meeting him, it was that special talent of his to make people trust him.

"And if anyone knows anything about mooning it's you." Snorted Kurenai, getting into the swing of their conversation. "Kenji Sensei almost had a heart attack when you did that." Anko shook with mischievous laughter as she tried to restrain the giggling fit that she was feeling at the memory of the prank she had played so many years ago came flooding back to her.

"Did they ever get the ass prints off that window?" Said Anko once she had gotten control of her mirth.

"No, they had to replace the whole thing. I'm surprised you haven't done that since then."

"I have been tempted" Said Anko, looking as though she was running through the best way to do it in her devious mind.

"I'm sure Iruka wouldn't mind too much." Said Kurenai with an impishly grin.

"If I did that his brain wouldn't function for the rest of the day and we would both miss lunch." Said Anko with a matching grin. Kurenai gave a small giggle

"I knew it. You've corrupted that poor man turned him into your love slave."

"I haven't corrupted him, not yet anyway. He still won't let us do it in the academy." Anko pouted at the thought of not being able to make her boyfriend suffer a major nose bleed at the sight of her in a dangerously short skirt and a shirt that is two sizes too small.

"That would raise a few eyebrows, not to mention lower a few jaws." Said Kurenai. Anko just waved off the comment.

"Ah. They can view it as a sex-ed class." Anko's face then sombered, the smile slipping and the constant gleam in her eyes fading. She gave a heavy sigh. "Iruka's not just my love slave. If anything I'm as much his as he is mine."

"Another thing I'd never though I'd hear you say." Said Kurenai but without any trace of mocking or snide undertones, only deep caring for her friend. This was something that she did not see often but knew well enough that now was not the time to mock her friend. Anko was a person who lived life how she liked and wore her heart on her sleeve. While this meant that she was generally upbeat, her moods could shift with out warning, most often to anger with Anko, but Kurenai, along with only a trusted few, had seen her become sad, even miserable. It was more surprising than her Angry because there was no build up to it. Her face just seemed to droop and melt into the glum expression that she wore now and Kurenai knew exactly what troubling her friend.

Anko really hated the reputation she had picked up and hated the thought that most people, those that did not know her that well, that her relationship with Iruka was just sex, not the kind of relationship she had dreamed about for years. Kurenai reached across the table and placed her hand on top of Anko's. "You really do love him."

"Yeah, I do." Said Anko, almost shyly, a tiny smile forming, which made Kurenai feel reassured knowing that Anko felt better now.

"And he loves you too." Said Kurenai softly, knowing that reminding Anko she had find the type of man that most women would kill for would bring her back to her usually self.

"Yeah." This time Anko's cheeks turned red. Having known her student, the lavender eyed Hinata, for so long she knew a blush, or a Love Blush as she now called it, when she saw one. Kurenai withdrew her hand and placed it on her lap, squeezing her thigh hard as she tried her best not to giggle at the sight in front of her.

"And it really shows." She said, just about keeping control.

"What?" Said Anko dangerously, now that she realizing why her face felt so hot. The look she gave her friend just dared her to mock her. Rather than face a pissed of Anko, which she had seen and faced before, the red eyed konuchi decided to give an equally true but different answer.

"I'm just saying that Iruka makes no attempts to hide the fact that he is going out with you and that, more importantly, he loves you." Anko cocked her head to one side and looked at Kurenai like she had just explained an incomparable battle plan.

"Eh?"

Kurenai tutted and Rolled her eyes. Some times Anko could be so dense, which reminded her or a certain blonde ninja.

"Unlike some men, most of them you ex-boyfriend, Iruka has never acted embarrassed or ashamed about the fact that he is dating a woman with one hell of a reputation, as false as it is." The last part was added quickly to stop the snake ninja jumping upon the red eyed woman and giving her an amateur face lift. "He never denies that he's going out with you, neither does he boast that he is. The only thing he does is cover up any love bites when he is teaching. Oh by the way how come you don't have any? Iruka's normally covered in them. People are going to think you're a vampire if it keeps up."

"I do have love bites." Said Anko. "Just not on my neck." The suggestive wiggle of her eyebrows just made Kurenai sigh. She decided to finish off explaining the bloody obvious to her friend.

"Anyway, he would do anything for you and I know you would do anything for him, or to him." Anko grinned at this.

Good. Thought Kurenai. She was pleased that she knew the best way to bring her friend quickly out of her brooding, just as if she was never sad. Kurenai was always a little surprised at how much her friend's emotions could go up or down. But it made her interesting and easy to cheer up once you knew how and Anko had definitely cheered up, which was good as the red eyed jounin wanted to ask a question that many have wanted the answer for a long time.

"What's with that tattoo that he has?"

"What tattoo?" counted Anko.

"The tattoo of a snake wrapped round a heart that's on his shoulder. He's never even hinted of getting a tattoo and then when he's going out with you he got one, a good one at that. I bet he's lost count of how many times he's been asked where he got it from people who admire it. He only says that he got it from you and I've seen rubbing it and smiling when he's day dreaming. So spill, have you become a tattooist in your spares time or is there something else about it?"

"Oh its just one of those things that people in love do." Answered Anko with a smirk. It was a complete lie; she knew that the tattoo was actually a seal. She had given it to Iruka when she bit him on the night that they were together, on the night when they both fell in love. Neither of the two lovers had any ideas what it meant but they both took it as a sign of their bond, a bond that would be impossible to break.

If Iruka did not want to say that it was a seal, and that Anko had bitten him at the height of passion to give it to him, then neither would she. But she Kurenai would not be satisfied without an Answer, a better one than one she had just given. "I've been thinking about getting a tattoo myself." Said Anko truthfully. "But I don't know what to get or where to have it."

"Have you asked Iruka for his opinion?"

"I have but he insists that he finds the perfect spot on my body himself. Every time he begins looking something big pops up and we have to see to that as it's such a big distraction. And that takes a lot of time and effort to get that sorted and by then we're both too tired and have to sleep to regain our strength. But when we wake up Iruka has forgotten where he had got up too, so we're back to the beginning." Anko had a look of contrived innocence which Kurenai did not believe for a second.

"Must be terrible for you two." Said Kurenai with a deadpan tone.

"Oh, it is. Sometime we try several times a day, but to no avail."

"Deviants." Snorted Kurenai.

"Hey, we can't be that bad if you hang out with us." Said Anko with a laugh.

"Only because you drag me out with you." The red eyed jounin shot back. It was true that she had been harangued by her friend into going out, or at least at first she did. After Asuma had died, Kurenai, while not sinking into an all consuming depression, had begun to become slightly withdrawn. Most people decided that giving her some space was the best course of action, although a few did frequently check upon her but not enough to be crowding. All except Anko. She knew full well that while time to breath could do some good, too much time alone liable to widen the spiritual hole inside a person.

After one week of putting up with Kurenai's miserable state she decided to take action, just like people had done for her when she needed them, well maybe not exactly the same. One evening Anko grabbed Kurenai and dragged her to their favorite bar, ignoring all of Kurenai's excuses or shooting them down with out mercy. Even telling Anko 'but I'm pregnant' was met with 'Good! You can stay sober and make sure I get home ok.' Kurenai remembered Anko joking that she was now eating for two it was up to the snake ninja to drinking for two, and it seemed that was giving it a serious go.

After a few nights of enforced fun Kurenai found herself cheering up again. It really helped to have a friend who knew what it felt like to have your world crumble around you in an instant and could help her through her lose. Soon she was back to her old self and was even happier when she gave birth to her beautiful child. Anko became more considerate about just dragging her out without and warning. She now gave Kurenai a weeks notice before she dragged her out again. It soon became a staple event of the week for the two of them to go out at least once.

When Anko and Iruka started dating Kurenai thought that she would be left at the sidelines as those two went all lovey-dovey together. But all that changed was that Iruka joined them on their nights out. At first she was wary, she knew Iruka was the epitome of Mr. Nice Guy but she had been support on a few of Anko's dates before, and all of them were bad. It turned out that she was wrong, and gladly so. The couple never fought, or if they did they never did it in public, neither were they overly affectionate. They said 'I love you' and kissed but they never did anything so sickly sweet that they made Kurenai feel ill.

Much to Kurenai's relief she never felt like an extra person intruding upon a couple. It felt like three good friends having a night out. Kurenai was able to join in every aspect, including Anko's favorite game 'make Iruka blush'. They also played a lot of Kurenai's favorite game 'make Anko blush' with Kurenai leading to a count of twenty four to Iruka's of twenty two. It was always fun to make fun of each other with the best jabs being traded between the two females. All in all their evenings out were very pleasant.

"That reminds me." Said Anko "I got those pictures developed from last week."

"I know. Iruka has one on his desk." Stated Kurenai

" Which one?"

"The one of you singing while sat on the bar stool, where your really hamming it up." Both of he women giggled at the memory that the photograph had captured.

"That was a fun night." Said Anko with a grin.

The night in question had been the time that all three had decided to do something different for a change and go to a new up market restaurant that had just opened up. Since it was a lot classier than their local they decided to dress up for the occasion.

Kurenai had arrived at Iruka's house, which he now shared with Anko, and was greeted by Iruka at the door. She had worn a stunning ruby red dress inlaid with glittering sequins that shimmered and danced with every movement. Two small straps held the figure hugging design to her stunning body while the neckline dipped to show a tantalizing amount of cleavage. Evocative enough to be alluring but modest enough not to appear cheap. Kurenai just loved the dress when she saw it and had brought it in an instant and had been dying for a reason to wear it. It was a nose bleed inducing dress and would have any man drooling in desire, except Iruka. Always the gentleman he had just said 'you look nice'. Kurenai smiled, like she had many times since her friend had finally found a good man. Iruka wore a simple but very fine black shirt and dress trousers. He still wore his fore head protector; Kurenai doubted if he ever took the thing off when he went outside.

Anko was still getting ready so the two teachers stood in the hall and talked as they waited. They talked about the evening they were about to have to their students. Kurenai could tell that Iruka was dancing around the subject of Naruto and her student Hinata, but then again she was avoiding directly mentioning the heiress's attraction to the blonde jinjuriki. They had both agreed early on that they would watch over their charges but they would not directly interfere in anyway that would force them together. It was something the two students would have to figure out themselves.

Their conversation was interrupted by Anko calling from the top of the stairs that she was ready. They both turned to look and Iruka's jaw fell. The love of his life was wearing a midnight black dress that was split up the sides and showed fishnet clad legs. Anko knew hat Iruka had a thing for fishnets. The dress clung and glided over Anko's buxom figure and had a plunging neckline like Kurenai's dress. The dress was also held by two straps in the shape of snakes and a large silver snake adorned the front of the dress. Starting with its tail at the bottom of the dress the glimmering serpent was coiled and stretched from top to bottom with the head resting just above Anko's heart.

'Well, what do you think?' Anko had said as she gave a twirl. Kurenai gave an appreciative nod while Iruka remained still. A closer inspection revealed a small amount of blood and what sounded like 'thank you god' being murmured. Anko took the stunned reaction as a great complement and Kurenai gave her a high five. After reactivating Iruka's brain with a quick kiss they left for the restaurant.

The Red Lotus Restaurant looked spotless and fancy form the outside and even better inside. The three were sat down and were looking forward to an entertaining night. Ten minutes later they decided they were not having a good time. The food was overpriced and did not look very filling. The waiters were very snooty and very stiff. But the worst part of the whole situation was the atmosphere. It felt very cold and ridged, like the place was only visited by people who looked down their noses a lot. The three friends could only have felt more unwelcome and outer place if they walked into the stuffy place in full mission gear and trailing dirt, and by the way most of the other customers looked at them they might as well have.

They left before Anko pummeled one of the waiters, which was fortunate for the staff as Iruka and Kurenai would not have jumped in very quickly to save the man, and went to their regular place.

The Drunken Shadow was a favorite of the local ninja of Konoha and while it might look like a seedy den of thieves and villains there was no better bar in the whole of the leaf. Despite the way it looked the atmosphere is friendly and relaxed. The main room is filled with round tables each illuminated by a low hanging light, deranging the table with yellow light but casting shadows around them. A long oak topped bar dominates one side of the room, stocked with a vast array of bottles or local and exotic spirits and other alcohols. A double score of round stools sit in front of the bar and can be swiveled around to take in the whole of the smoky scene. The wall opposite the bar is adorned by a number of different shaped targets board and obstacles used for games of skill using kuni and shuriken. A squat semi circle stage sits as the far end of the room. It is often empty but sometimes host bands and other types of performers.

The clientele is predominately ninjas, either local or from another village, which goes along way to explaining why such a popular place looks some dim and seedy, ninjas just like the dark. Since the bar is often filled with friendly ninjas the chances of someone starting a fight is slim. The type of lowlife that goes out looking for a fight is not welcome inside the Drunken Shadow but every so often some fool drunk on ale and their own over confidence wanders in and is soon sent out the door on their faces'.

As they entered the trio of friends received hoots ands cat calls from the regulars in a show of appreciation for the fine clothes the three were wearing. The jounin women both gave a twirl as Iruka just blushed. They all knew that the cat calls were not serious and none of them were offensive or crude. Every one knew that Iruka and Anko were together and it would mean great suffering to anyone who tried to come between them. Kurenai was not interested in anyone so no one tried to ask her out anymore.

The stage that night was not empty. An old jukebox was stood to one side of the stage and half dozen microphones on long cables were sat in a rack bolted to the side of the box.

It was karaoke night.

Their overdressed state added to the enjoyment of the evening, if only for the shear ridiculousness that the elegant garments added. They normally did not get involved in karaoke but after being in the most joyless place they have been in for a long time they really could do with some very bad singing and silly behavior. They ate a good helping of low brow food, all of it very unhealthy and sinfully good, drank till they were all a little tipsy, played some kuni games and just because it was there sang some dreadful songs on the karaoke. All night pictures were taken on a camera that Iruka had brought thinking they would get some good shots at the Lotus and not the friendly local. But all the same it was a very fun night. A lot of pictures of the two jounin and chunin doing some ridiculous things were taken that night and Anko was going to make sure that little brat Naruto would never see any of them, he would most defiantly make fun of the snake jounin and Iruka would be upset if she was to do any permanent to him.

The night ended in a strange way with the lovers having and arm wrestling contest, with Kurenai snapping pictures all the way through the test of strength. The contestants both gave it their all, knowing that to throw the match would be insulting to the other. In the end Anko won but Kurenai suspected that it was only because Anko had employed nefarious diversion tactics. She had panted in an exaggerated fashion and Kurenai was sure that Anko leaning forward had something to do with her victory. Also the strategic placement of Anko's foot somewhere on Iruka's body surely had something to with Iruka suddenly going red and loosing all strength in his arm for the split second for Anko to win. Kurenai was sure if she got all the pictures of the arm wrestling together she could make a quick flip book of the contest.

"You must let me see those photos soon." Said Kurenai.

"Will do." Said Anko. " I only wish I'd gotten pictures of the week before."

"Why?" Asked Kurenai in a puzzled tone. The week before had been fun but nothing memorable like a week later so it must have been when it was just Anko and Iruka.

"After a walk in the moonlight we stooped for a quick drink at the Shadow and ran into Brick." Anko had said the last part in the same tone she used to use when she had a crippling hangover, like live was not worth living anymore. The red eyed jounin could not blame her friend. Brick was one of the worst men Anko had ever gone out with, and that was saying something. A giant ape of a man Brick had all the charm and charisma of a slimy piece of rotten flesh. That towering stain of a human being did not wash enough, if at all, and drank too much so much that he permanently stank of alcohol and his breath could peel the paint of walls and turn even the stoniest of stomachs. The man also hand the personality of a horny. Runty boar during the mating season, the only thing that out weighed his stupidity was his arrogance.

"What happened?" Asked Kurenai with a weary sigh. Anything to do with Brick was never good and seriously wonder what his parents were thinking, more probably taking, when they decided to conceive him. Anko gave her a very smug grin.

"He spent the night out cold on his back, missing six of his teeth."

"You must have given him one hell of a punch considering how thick his skull is."

"It was an impressive hit but I didn't smack him. It's was Iruka."

"What?" exclaimed Kurenai. "Tell me everything." She said leaning forward n her chair.

"Ok. We had just walked in and were half way to the bar when that big lump of human discharge somehow appeared right in front of us. He must have been hiding behind the garbage before it got taken out because it's the only thing that could have masked his smell."

"True. I thought he would have at least learned to have a wash by the number of times you told him he stank to his face when you two went out." Said Kurenai as she wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Don't remind me." Said Anko, equally disgusted. "He seemed to stink even worse than usually on that night. And he still leers at me, even when he could see that I'm with Iruka." Anko shuddered at the memory that she had gone out with that man. The dark haired woman was glad that she had dumped him, painfully on his head, before she did something really stupid, like sleep with the ape.

"Then what happened?" Asked Kurenai, edging even further on her seat. She damn near falling off thought Anko.

"Iruka looked calm but I could tell that he was getting pissed by the way Brick was looking at me." She said. Anko had learned that Iruka had an excellent hold of his Anger, almost as a counter point to Anko's loose grip of her infamous rage, but she had learnt by now how to read the subtle changes to his bearing and feature when he was mad. "Iruka's eye starting to twitch, but my fist is starting to shake, I'm about ready to twat the bastard, when Iruka says 'Excuse us'. Brick looks at him for a second like he trying to remember how to speak before he grunts 'So you're Anko's new man?'" Anko had relaxed her face so her features hung lose making her look very stupid and spoke with a long drawn out drawl. Kurenai thought it was a very good impersonation of Brick's simian attempts at human communication.

"'You gotta tell me what kind of kinky shit she gets up too.'" Anko's face returned to normal as she carried on. "If it was anyone else who said that I would have been too shocked to do anything but considering it was Brick I didn't even blink. Iruka was definitely shocked enough for both of us. He then glared at Brick like he wanted to pull out his tiny heart and ram it down his throat. Iruka can now glare almost as well as I do."

"I bet that made you feel proud." Said Kurenai with a rueful smirk.

"It did. Anyway Iruka says 'Excuse me?' Damn near growls the question at Brick. The asshole smiles at him like they've been the best of buddies for all their lives. 'You know. Kinky shit and stuff like that. She's always been a horny little slu…' WHAM! I barely saw it and Brick certainly didn't. Iruka lands a text book straight right that lifts Brick off his feet, sends him thought a table, knocks out some teeth and leaves him out cold on the bar floor. Needles to say everyone watching went wild at the sight of it and I think the bar keeper had put the missing teeth up on display."

Kurenai quickly slapped her hands on the table to stop herself falling off her chair as she rocked with laughter. Anko smirked knowing that her friend's hatred of her ex, and most of the others, ran almost as deep as her own.

"Do you know what Iruka did next?" She asked. Kurenai weakly shook her head as she took a better position on her chair. "He apologized."

"He apologized to Brick?" Asked a shocked Kurenai. She knew Iruka had the unofficial title of 'nicest man in all of the leaf' but even to say sorry to the man he just knocked out for insulting his girlfriend was a bit too much to swallow.

"No, he said sorry to me." Said Anko.

"Eh?" Said Kurenai, mimicking Anko for earlier.

"He turned to me, looking a bit sheepish and rubbing the back of his head like Naruto does, and said hew was sorry for jumping in like that. Thinking that I would be annoyed at him for defending me like that. Anko giggled at the memory of Iruka worried that he had offended Anko's independent streak.

"Well I can't blame him. You've always had this think about not needing any man doing anything for you."

"With Iruka it's different, he's not doing it to make him self look good, he just did it because he felt it was right. Also I've never had anyone stand up for me on the account of my honor. It was quite a nice gesture really." Sais Anko, a small blush dancing across her face. Kurenai shook her head slightly.

"Only you could find a knock out blow romantic. What did you do then?"

"Well we went straight home, I threw him onto the bed, ripped his clothes off and…"

"Whoa, whoa. Stop right there." Pleaded a desperate Kurenai. "I don't need to hear that. I'm fine with out mental scars thank you" Kurenai vigorously shook her head trying to dislodge the mental images of her two friends locked against each other in passion.

"You said to tell you everything." Said Anko with her usual grin.

"Not that much." Anko just sniggered as Kurenai fixed her with a cold look. "You're such a child."

Anko stuck her tongue out and blew a long wet raspberry. Kurenai just rolled her eyes.

"Speaking of brats." Said Anko. "Where is the short one?" Kurenai knew that she was referring to her baby. She smiled and felt herself fill with pride.

"Down in the nursery. I just thought I'd get sometime to myself when I could before we have to go home."

Anko studied her friend for a second and saw the sighs that she had missed before. They were not really big but there were noticeable bags under her eyes and a slight slump to her shoulders. Anko also saw a weariness mixed in with the love and happiness that were evident in the red eyed woman's smile. Anko cast her mind back trying to think of a time since Kurenai had the baby to a time when she was not either with her child or with somebody else. She could think of none. Anko had never seen a mother more devoted and protective of their baby than Kurenai but she also knew at time alone, to relax without having to worry about a single think were essential for any sane person to survive. She mulled over what she had just worked out before she knew just what to do.

"Kurenai. Me and Iruka won't be going out this week." She said in a solemn tone.

"Oh? Why?" asked Kurenai. She was a little disappointed as she had gotten to really enjoy the weekly nights out.

"Because we are going to be babysitting your little monster while you have some time to yourself." Said Anko, leaning back on her chair and folding her arms across her chest. Anko scowled and looked off to the side looking like she had just been told she would not have chance to snuggle up next to Iruka in bed tonight.

"What?" Asked Kurenai completely take back by the sudden and surly declaration.

"You heard." Grunted Anko.

"But…"

"No buts. Look, Iruka loves the little terror and you are in desperate need of some time off. So we are going to take care of everything while you have twenty four hours alone and enjoy yourself."

Kurenai looked at the uncooperative image her friend was displaying and smiled. While Anko had become a lot friendlier she could never admit that she wanted to do a favor just to be nice. She either made it seem that there was something in it for her or that she was being forced to do it, even when it was her idea.

"What do you suggest I do then?" She asked, a little unsure of what to do with her day's worth of free time.

"I don't know. Go to the bathes, get your nails done, sit around your house and slob out."

"Slob out?" inquired the red eyed jounin, dreading what the answer could be.

"Come on you must know how to slob out?" Asked Anko. Kurenai just shook her head with a look of disbelief of where this conversation was going.

Anko rolled her eyes. How could her friend not know of this simple joy?

"You sit down in your house and do absolutely nothing. And the clothes needed for such an activity is usual underwear or nothing at all."

"You really do that?" Kurenai realized it was a stupid question, she could really see the snake-nin doing that with a large grin, with drool running down the side of her mouth.

"Yeah. It's great. I do it when ever I'm not on a mission and have nothing to do. I just sit around, read scrolls and books, eat junk food and…

"Scratch your nuts." Cut in Kurenai with a devilish smile. "You can be such a bloke sometimes.

Anko's ladylike response, to disprove the slight against her feminine nature, was to give her friend the 'one fingered salute'

"Whatever. You going to owe me one for this by the way." Said Anko jabbing a finger at the woman sat across form her.

"Sure, because you absolutely hate being called 'Awunty Anko'" Kurenai said in a sweetly sarcastic voice. She ignored the killer glare Anko gave her and carried on. "Admit it. You love my 'little monster' as much as Iruka does."

"Good luck trying to prove it." Said Anko, although she was not sure she could hide any evidence that did exist, she was quite fond of Kurenai's child.

"Oh believe me I will. You know I think you two are rubbing off on each other and not just rubbing against each other."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well you both have subtle changes to your attitudes. Iruka has become more out spoken and, by what you told me, starting to act on impulse. You have cheered up immensely and stopped being such a hard assed bitch. You two are really good for each other."

Anko just snorted and looked away.

"You may have point." She grumbled. The nosey gossip was right, but if she got wind that she was Kurenai would unbearable. She could be insufferable smug when she wanted to be.

"He'd make a good father." Anko's arms flailed as she just about managed to grabbed hold of the desk and steadied herself.

"What?" She barked. Kurenai just giggled, just like she did when she was student.

"Just kidding." She said. Anko was not convinced, but the less on that subject the better.

"Anyway." Continued Kurenai. "Thank you. You sure Iruka won't mind?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. He loves kids. I'm sure given half the chance he would have adopted Naruto when the kid was younger. Although saying that I don't think that kid will ever grow up."

"Now who does that remind me of?" said Kurenai mimicking a look of thoughtfulness.

"Bitch." Said Anko.

"Skank." Came the instinctive reply. "I don't see why you make out that you don't link Naruto. I can see that you do."

Whenever Kurenai saw Anko and Naruto together, which was quite frequently due to their connections to Iruka, they were often trading insults and trying their best to irritate the other. Anko treated Naruto like a child while he called Anko 'Nee-san'. Kurenai could never tell who was being the most childish out of the pair.

"I've never said I don't like him." Said Anko. "he's a good kid and his hearts in the right place. He's just so much fun to wind up and terrify."

"So a lot like someone else I know." Muttered Kurenai

"Sorry I didn't catch that."

"Oh nothing, just think out loud." Said Kurenai with a dismissive wave. She really needs that break. Thought Anko. She's beginning to lose it.

"Anyway, that's enough about students getting on my nerves, how are you're three not so ex-students getting along?"

Kurenai gave the same smile that she wore when she thought of her young child whenever she thought about her team and how much they have grown; even with out her personally leading them in the field in a while and also how well each one of them did on solo missions. But they still liked to come to her for advice from time to time.

"They're doing great. Kiba has begun to work on more advanced beast jutsus and tracking. But he's got fleas at the moment, so he a little grumpy about having to wear a flea collar and he says that the special soap he has to use smells like cat piss."

"Poor mutt." Chuckled Anko.

"Yes I think Shino has something to do with it." muttered Kurenai. Anko arched a questioning eyebrow. "He isn't as with drawn as everyone assumes he is. He seems to enjoy playing pranks on people, sneaky pranks, and his favorite victim is Kiba, normally because Kiba says he's too up tight. Also I think he's got his eye on a girl."

"With Kiba I'm not surprised."

"No, Shino it's very cute. Every times she walks past he pulls down his hood and takes off his sun glasses."

Anko chuckled again. For such a mysterious and cool person like Shino, showing his faces was like him getting down on his knees and proclaiming his undying love for this girl.

"And Hinata's doing really well." Said Kurenai. Anko could hear the pride in her voice and saw the sparkle in her eyes. Although Kurenai loved each member of her team she held a special place for the hyuga girl. "She started to use Genjutsu in her fighting and is using it to develop some special hybrid techniques that use the gentle fist."

"Cool. I would love to see them someday. Naruto told Iruka, while I was there, about the technique Hinata used when they were looking for that tracking bug. He sounded very impressed by it." She remembered that the blonde was actually more than impressed, it was all that he talked about for two weeks. Anko thought it was bloody annoying while Iruka had a secretive smile across his face as Naruto continued to talk about how awesome Hinata was, although when the slip of the tongue was pointed out he quickly said the technique was awesome. Anko had some fun ragging him about that for awhile.

"Yes, I've seen it myself. She still practiced that one but the ones she developing at the moment are aimed towards defeating an enemy that use jutsu to become aware of their surroundings or allows them to see through in coming attacks, the prime example is a Byakugan user or something like that."

"In other words it makes people who can see everything blind." Anko thought about such a situation for a second. "Yep that would really fuck up people who are used to seeing everything all the time. I wonder if Hinata will teach it to me?"

"You just want to use it to fuck with Hiashi some more." Said Kurenai, once again pointing an accusing finger at her friend.

Anko could just no grow up and let petty things go. Kurenai had no idea how the rivalry between the illustrious head of the Hyuga house and the rebellious wild girl had started in the academy but she had seen it carry on for year. Sometimes there were just some things that a person should just let go but Anko refused to stop getting on the patriarchs' nerves whenever she could. It was quite ridicules to watch sometimes but it was also very funny.

"You know what I'd really like to see?" Mused Anko. "A rematch between Hinata and Neji. I would definitely put my money on her by the way."

"Me too." Added Kurenai.

"She's really grown strong hasn't she? I remember when she was just a timid girl in her first chunin exam but when she stood up to Neji I could tell she had balls.

"Interesting way of putting it. I'm pretty sure Hinata's female." Said Kurenai giving Anko a weary look. Anko just shrugged.

"What would you prefer I'd say? That's she going to have one hell of a rack? Which she does by the way. If she grows that way anymore she's going to be as big as…"

"STOP! I don't want to hear this either. You can be so crude sometimes." Kurenai then looked her friend up and down, like she was studying some form of new, smirking life. "What am I saying?" She said. "You're crude most of the time."

Anko Chuckled again. She was have such a laugh with her friend she wouldn't be surprised if her sides started to hurt soon.

"Good thing Hinata can't hear this or the poor girl would have passed out from heat stroke." Said Anko. Hinata knew she was a beautiful but she never liked to flaunt it, hence the baggy clothes that had become her trademark form of dress, and in turn could become highly embarrassed when somebody, usually Anko, said anything about how much she had developed. All Anko had to do was compliment the girl on her body, being as sincere as she was with her close friends, and the young lady would flush such a deep red that anyone would think that Naruto had just whispered a naughty suggestion in her ear in a husky voice.

"Bad enough that she almost died of blood loss yesterday."

"What?" exclaimed Anko. "What happened?" she asked with a voice laced heavily with concern. While she did tease the pale eyed girl she genuinely liked her. To have come form such a ridged and stern clan and be able to show the warmth of human kindness was a big plus in Anko's books.

"She saw Naruto with out his top on and passed out in the street." Said Kurenai in an almost deadpan voice. This story had repeated it's self many time so no one was surprise when the Hyuga heirs hit the deck beat red in the face.

"She split her head when she fell then?" Wondered Anko. She would agree with her friend that it all sounded very normal for the she girl.

"No. Naruto saw her fall and tried to revive her by giving her a bit of a shake. She came round in the end."

"Good."

"In Naruto's bare arms." Said Kurenai with a hint of mischievous mirth in her voice. Every so often the normal could become usually again.

"Oh. Nose bleed then." Said Anko as the story became clear to her.

"Oh yes, a big one. I was at the hospital for my little one's jabs when Naruto comes barreling through the doors, cradling Hinata in his arms blood all down her front, bellowing at the medics to help. I came over to see what was going on while the staff took Hinata and tried to calm Naruto down, he was making on hell of a scene. I saw that the blood was coming from her nose and I saw a small smile as she mumbled quietly. I saw that Naruto was topless and I put two and two together and..," Kurenai trailed off and gave a shrug to say that the reason was so obvious she did not have to say it. Anko burst out laughing, like a harlequin on laughing gas. Her sides started to hurt now. She clutched at them as Kurenai continued.

"I managed to calm Naruto down and got him to tell me what happened. After I worked out the situation I told him it was just a nose bleed and that Hinata would be fine. He looked very relieved afterwards. I told him to get a shirt on before he went to see her. He was quite embarrassed that he had been topless the whole time. He would have stayed till Hinata woke up but Hiashi soon arrived after one of the medics contacted him about Hinata being admitted to the hospital. I thought it best for Naruto to leave as was being given death glares by Hiashi.

"He's always glaring." Said Anko in a dismissive tone. "every time I see him he always looking like he thinks he can stare me to death. I bet he practices that look in the mirror in the morning."

"The reason he glares every time he sees you is because you dyed his hair green just before his Chunin exam." Kurenai pointed out. She did not know why the rivalry had begun but she knew that was when it had started.

"I was trying to help. I thought it would be good camouflage for hiding in the forest." Said Anko in mock defensiveness. Kurenai rolled her eyes. She did not believe her friend for a second. "Seriously." Continued Anko. "Why don't you tell Naruto that Hinata likes, hell loves him? He should jump at the chance to be with her."

"NO!" shouted the genjutsu specialist. The force of her voice surprised her more that it did her friend. She took a few seconds to calm herself before she gave her answer.

"He has to work it out himself or for Hinata to tell him. If someone told him that Hinata has feelings for him he could only go out with her out of a misplaced sense of obligation or guilt. That could be disastrous for them later on. We can't let that happen."

"We?" inquired Anko.

"Me, you and Iruka." Said Kurenai her face set in a hard repose. When she made that face Anko always thought that she should model for a condemning statue to stand outside of courthouses, just too really scare those on trial. Her face remained solid as marble as she proceeded to remind Anko of a subject that snake-nin seemed to forget at her convenience. "You promised that you would never tell Naruto anything about how Hinata fells with out Hinata telling first."

"I know, I know. And I have no intention of telling him. It's just that he has a stunning girl just passing out to be with him and he doesn't have a fucking clue about it. It's frustrating to watch."

"It's not his fault." Said Kurenai calming down and her face settling in to its normal soft countenance. "He's never had a family and no one really sat down with him and explained love. All he had to go on was whatever he saw and read about it, his perception of love and romance is cobbled together from bad romances and what ever he picked up from other people. By the time he came to the academy and Iruka started to take a larger role in his life he already had in his mind on what he wanted for a girlfriend and how to get one. I think he's learning more about romance and love but it's going to take a long time for him to readjust his way of thinking."

"Don't be so sure about that." Muttered Anko.

"What do you mean by that?" Asked Kurenai. Whenever Anko knew something she didn't the buxom woman liked to dangle it front of her and tease her with it.

"Look, anything you tell me isn't passed on to Iruka and the same applies to what ever you tell me." Stated Anko.

Kurenai suddenly wished her friend was more of a gossip monger. She admired the fact that Anko could be trusted to keep secrets, no matter how much she would taunt the illusionist with the fact she knew something she did not, but she really had to know this information. Not because Anko knew and she did not, not because it was some gossip she could sink her teeth into but because if it had any impact on Hinata she had to know to decided whether it would harm the shy girl or help her.

But trying to get information out of Anko was hard. Bribes worked sometimes, pleading and begging just got obnoxious teasing and mocking smirks and physical intimidation resulted in an ugly brawl. There was only the most nefarious method of extracting information left to Kurenai and it always gave the red eyed woman a slight power trip when she used it.

Blackmail.

"Tell me or I'll tell Iruka about the time that involved you, sixteen shots, loaf of French bread, two fish, a personal reprimanded from the Hokage and six weeks punishment work." The smile on Kurenai's face was positively wolfish.

Anko's widened as sudden terror was etched across her face. She could not believe that Kurenai would hold that above her head, she had to be bluffing. But one look into those curiously crimson eyes told her that she was not bluffing. The evil witch had been hanging around her too long, Anko thought with some grudging respect for her friend's deviousness. She gave a resentful growl before she caved.

"Lets just say that Naruto is widening certain options in his life." Said Anko, hopefully appeasing her friend while being cryptic enough not to have broken her trust to Iruka.

"He's given up on Sakura?" Asked Kurenai, quickly coming to an answer to Anko's thinly veiled clue.

"Shit." Anko winced. She always sucked at making up riddles and puzzles. Kurenai gave her a triumphant smile.

"Looks like he's finally growing up." Said Kurenai.

"That might not be a good thing." Said Anko. She continued before Kurenai could ask anymore probing questions. "A few girls have started to take an interest in him, kinda like a smaller version that Uchiha kids fan club from way back. But fortunately the kid's so dense he doesn't notice them anymore that Hinata. In fact I'd say it makes him a bit uncomfortable when a mob of girls appear, he doesn't have a clue what to do." Anko gave a weak chuckle and looked out of the window. This conversation had taken a down turn.

Kurenai chewed her lip in thought for a moment before letting her head slumped into her arms which were resting on the table.

"Well if even that is the case it still doesn't mean we should tell him. It's wrong to manipulate people into a relationship." She said.

"Hypocrite." Said Anko, still looking out of the window.

"Hmm?" came Kurenai's reply. She was also looking of the window into the glorious scene before her but it did little to lift her mood.

"I said hypocrite." Answered Anko now looking back at brooding friend.

"Why am I a hypocrite?" Asked Kurenai, her voice muffled by her arms.

"You manipulated me into going for Iruka." Said Anko in a tone that make the answer seem so glaringly obvious.

Kurenai sat back up straight with a slightly worried look in her eyes. "How did I manipulate you exactly?"

"Remember the time you first mentioned Iruka to me?" Kurenai nodded, she did remember that conversation. "You basically made him to be wonderful, which he is, and then listed all the things you thought he would want in a woman. A list that I did not fit in any way shape or form. In short you basically said he the man that I have always wanted and that I could not have him. You knew id take that as a challenge and that I can't resist a challenge like that, even if I acted that I didn't care. Also you knew that I would unconsciously being looking out for him _and_ you knew that I would make a move on him and that we would be together. Am I right?" Anko's eyes were calmly penetrating as her friend relaxed from her impression of a board.

"Good luck trying to prove It." said Kurenai with a triumphant smirk.

"Thank you anyway."

"You're welcome"

"Gotcha!" said Anko in victory.

"Damn it" cursed Kurenai. She should have seen that one coming.

"I mean it though. Thank you for what you did. If you didn't Iruka might have slipped me by." Said Anko with a genuine smile on her face. They came so easily as of late.

"No problem. But you were a special case. It would be very wrong to do that to Naruto."

"Special case?" Asked Anko with and amused look. "How was I a special case?"

"Well there's the fact that you a complete deviant. You the only person I know who takes notes on prisoner restrain to use in the bed room when you get home." The wicked smile she gave made it clear that she thought she had scored a point against the snake-nin.

"Hypocrite." Said Anko with a grin that leveled the playing field. The conversation just got fun again.

"What? You already caught me."

"Oh not that. I was referring to the deviant comments."

"What do you mean?" asked Kurenai. She had idea where this was going and she did not like it. Her spine did another impression of a Bo staff as small rivulets of sweat trickled down her back.

"I distinctly remember seeing rope makes on your wrists and ankles one time when we both visited the bathes together. You did a very good job of hiding them from everyone but I saw them and I know the day before you spent the night at Asuma's place. Care to explain?" The sweet smile Anko sported let Kurenai know she was trapped.

"I, err… I was helping him with his interrogation techniques." Said Kurenai lamely, clutching at the first answer that sounded reasonable.

Anko's smile grew; this was too good to pass up. "Really? What did he do? Did he gag you? Give you a tongue lashing?" Anko cocked an eyebrow. "Did he restrain you and, Pump. You. For. Information?" Each word was drawn out and loaded with as much innuendo as Anko could muster.

Kurenai's face flushed bright crimson, surpassing the abilities of her student, as her eyes widened, resembling two suns about to go super nova.

"I, I … we… erm?" Kurenai stuttered her explanation. "Gotta go!" She quickly stood up and bolted from the room.

Next chapter, next part of the story.


	3. Chapter 3

Part 3

Anko sat motionless a few seconds after the door had slammed shut before throwing her head back and laughing raucously. She was so over come that she did not stop when her sides ached worse than before or even when her chair fell backwards and she smacked into the floor, where she writhed and kicked in trerentshal laughter. Later on she would find out that several people had made to enter the room only to stop when they heard what sounded like the call of a madman. Only one person dared to enter.

Anko was now biting her bottom lip as she tried to calm down. She had not expected Kurenai's reaction to be so comical or for her reaction to be so unrestrained. The result was her back was a bit sore, her cheeks ached and her sides felt as thought she had been used as a kick bag by Anbu practicing close combat skills.

"Err, excuse me? Anko-san are you alright?" said a gentle voice. Anko turned her head and saw one the people she and Kurenai had been discussing.

"Hey Hinata." She said with a cheery smile, which she quickly dropped as her cheeks throbbed in protest. Anko got up, righted her chair and sat down again. She massaged her sides and took a moment to study the young woman standing in the door way, looking very perplexed at the sight a few moments ago.

Hinata had grown taller over the year, just a head shorter than her teacher, and what had been adorable roundness of her face had shifted to stunning beauty, while still retaining some of the cuteness of when she was younger. Her lips were full and firm, and Anko was sure that they could be pushed into one hell of a sultry pout if the heiress wanted to. Her nose was straight and unblemished as was the rest of her pale skin. Her angular jaw, a common feature of her family, was off set by the slight roundness of her cheeks, adding to the overall radiance that she projected.

But the most noticeable feature of Hinata were her eyes. Not because they were like everyone not of her clan but because they were not like those in her clan. Looking into the eyes of most Hyugas was like looking into two ponds frozen in the dead of winter. Beautiful, but completely unyielding and offering no warmth, showing not a single ripple of emotion just like living waters locked in a icy scene. But this was not the case with Hinata. With her it was looking into a pair of luminous pearls, shinning with the embracing light of a full moon, offering friends ship and warmth to all.

Violet hair framed her face with soft full strands that cascaded half way down her back apart from the section in front of her face that was neatly cut so see could see when she did not have her Byakugan active.

The baggy cloths she had always worn had not changed much over the years. The only thing that had changes was an addition of pale lavender to her outfit. The outfit still did its main job perfectly. Hiding the figure of the young woman underneath. And Anko knew that it was one hell of a figure, trim but curvy in all the right places. Naruto, or any man for that matter, would be drooling at the thought of such a beautiful girl wanting to be with them. The only thing that surpassed the beauty of her body was the beauty of her soul.

She was kind, caring and modest which gave way to her once over bearing shyness, yet she could find the steel with in herself to face down her enemies even when it seemed that there was no hope as well as quell her inner demons that used to plague her with such ferocity and hunger. Anko truly admired her attitude never to give up, just like she admired the same will in Naruto, although she would never tell the little brat.

"Hello Anko-san." Hinata said politely as she stepped into the room.

Anko sighed. She wished the girl could stop being so formal around her. "Hinata I think you know well enough to stop acting like am a visiting dignitary. You call me Anko or big sis, hell you can call me 'My Empress' if you want."

"Sorry but I believe that's Iruka-sensei's name for you." Said Hinata with a small smile.

Anko clutched her sides again. "Please don't make me laugh." She said with an aching smile. "I don't think I could take anymore."

Hinata chuckled quietly. She like the rambunctious woman. When she had first been introduced to the woman outside of Anko's capacity of instructor she was a little intimidated by her brash attitude. She was quite shocked by the way the woman spoke, especially to Kurenai-sensei but she quickly saw past the hair razing words and saw she was a decent person. Hinata found that she got on very well with the woman and could soon trust her like Kurenai-sensei, just in a different way. If she thought of Kurenai-sensei as a caring big sister, always there when she needed advice, help or just someone female to chat to, Anko would be the naughty big sister, encouraging her to have more fun and break any rules that stood in her way which Hinata needed as she tended to be caught up too much in rules and protocol to enjoy here self.

In many ways she reminded Hinata of Naruto, a whirling wild child that lived life liking a burning ball of fire, illuminating everything around they with their brilliant light. The lavender eyed girl felt an oh-so familiar feeling wash over her as well as a new sensation. She felt a twitch low with in her body and a small trickle of blood beginning to ebb through her nose as her mind flashed back to the day she saw Naruto with out his top on. The sight of his trim athletic body, the way his muscles moved, and the gorgeous smile he flashed all the time that sent her swooning over the edge. Also there was the delicious feeling of waking up in those perfectly sculpted arms looking up at that adorable whiskered face. Oh what she would give… No! Hinata shook her head to chase the memory away. If she thought about it now she would defiantly pass out again. She would think about it again later, in bed, with a pillow over her mouth.

Anko watched the curious display in front of her with a knowing smile. She did not have to guess to know who Hinata was thinking of.

"Something on your mind?" she asked.

Hinata looked up as if she had only just realized the jounin was there having become so lost in thought.

"Have you seen Kurenai-sensei?" she asked

"She just left for the nursery a moment ago, rather quickly in fact." Answered Anko with her trade mark smirk in place.

"Oh." Said Hinata looking a bit downcast.

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you caught up with her."

"Oh, no. I wouldn't like to impose upon anything." Said Hinata trying to wave off her despondent look.

So considerate, even when she doesn't have to be. Thought Anko.

"How's training going?" she inquired, decided to change the subject. She still had sometime till Iruka would finish his class and there were worse ways to kill time than talking to the pale eyed konuchi. "I've heard you got some new Techniques in the works. What are they?"

A beaming smile of modest pride spread across Hinata's face, who doesn't like to talk about something that they have created.

"I'm working on three genjutsu types that merge with my gentle fist style at the moment. I haven't given they names yet but I'm close to finishing one of them. One is a strike that makes the target belief they have been hit five times in different direction. It makes them think they're hurt worse than they and when combined with a shrouding technique it makes it harder for them to know where my attacks are coming from.

The second is a stunning field that I'm trying to develop to be so subtle that the target has no idea they're in a trap before it knocks them out. But I've only managed to get it to work inside a closed area for now; it's going to take more work for it to work out in the open. And the third…" Hinata trailed off with a hesitant expression.

"Is?" Inquired Anko.

"The third is something to counter the Byakugan and other types of Dojutsus." Said Hinata as if she was a child explain to a adult why they have been doing something silly.

"How's that work then?" Asked Anko, she really wanted to know about a technique that could stump the Byakugan. That would really piss Hiashi off.

"Well it overloads the Byakugan with too much information and makes it difficult to focus on a target. Neji has been helping me and Kurenai Sensei with developing it and he says it's like being caught in a blizzard."

"Neji has been helping you?" asked Anko a little surprised.

"Yes." Confirmed Hinata. "He volunteered actually. He thinks it's good that I'm making the Juken to work with my skills. Also he's using it for his training for if he can't use his Byakugan again."

Anko nodded in silent agreement. After having the once thought all seeing Byakugan defeated twice, once by Naruto no less, Neji was now seeing that all techniques can be beaten and a back up tactic was sensible.

"Has he had a go at learning them himself?" she asked.

"He's tried but he's fining it hard. He's thinks it's because of his mind set; his way of thinking is that of a tai-jutsu specialist. His subconscious can't comprehend at the moment the reason for thinking so abstract when he could just plough through his opponent." In some way he's having the same problem as Rock Lee."

"Maybe another uppercut form Naruto will convince him to get some help with his Genjutsu." Quipped Anko. The punch that had won Naruto his victory during the Chunin exam was also jokingly said to have knocked some sense and humility into the Hyuga prodigy.

"Actually he's asked me to teach him some basic illusion skills, thinking without thinking, suspending disbelief, daydreaming. But getting him to free his mind from his ridged way of thinking is a bit difficult." Hinata gave a small smile. The type of smile a person shows when they know a secret that is just hilarious. "I've been getting him to try and day dream. He hasn't got the hang of it just yet. He sit's in full lotus position and looks as thought he trying to complete the world's longest math's equation."

"Maybe you should get him to day dream about Tenten." Said Anko with a wicked smirk.

"That's mean Anko-san." Said Hinata trying not to chuckle.

Anko sighed and rolled her head back. "Gah! Again with the san. You're making me feel old Hinata."

"I'm sorry my empress." Said Hinata with a solemn tone. Anko saw the small quirk of a smile that Hinata had begun to wear on the rare occasions she engaged in some light hearted taunting.

"OW-OW-HA-HAH-HA-ow." Anko giggled weakly as she held her sides. "First Kurenai and now you? I seem to be doing a good job of corrupting all the women around me."

"I don't think my father will be happy with me being corrupted by you. Did you really dye his hair green?"

"Yeah, I did." Anko thought for a second. "Does he still use that really expensive Regal Green shampoo?

"Yes." Hinata answered slowly, she had an idea where this might be going.

"Do you use it?"

"No I use violet rose on my hair."

A more modest yet exquisite brand. Thought Anko. "Right." She said "Green hair dye number sixty four mixed with spring water and dragon seed oil looks exactly like Regal Green."

"Now what would I do with that?" Asked Hinata with a hint of mischief.

Damn. Thought Anko she really has come a long way form the shy little girl. I wonder what would happen if I introduced her to alcohol. Kurenai would skin for sure if I did. "Oh I don't know. Just a fun fact that I thought you might find interesting." Said Anko in an offhanded tone.

"You're terrible." Said Hinata with a smile.

"Thanks." Said Anko, beaming as if she had just won first prizes in a 'prankster of the year' competition. "what did you want to talk to Kurenai about anything I could help with?"

"Well, I wanted some advice on how best to teach Genjutsu so I can help Neji better."

"No help there." Cut in Anko.

"It's ok." Continued Hinata. "and also I want to ask her about… well, erm." Hinata's cheeks flushed once more but this time they were almost a glowing crimson. She might have changed a great deal since becoming a Chunin but there were some parts of her that have not changed yet. The pale eye girl poked her index fingers together in a nervous gesture and stared at her feet. Anko in an instant what Hinata wanted to talk to Kurenai about.

Looks like she willing to talk to me about. Mused Anko. Come on, willed Anko, I can't help you unless you say something first.

"T-T-There's-s-s some o-o-." stammered Hinata. Anko was now starting to lean forward on her seat with out realizing she was so hooked upon what could be the confession that she, Iruka and Kurenai had been waiting for.

"We-e-l-ll you see I-I…"

Come on your almost there. Anko now had her hands gripping the front on the edge of the table.

"I Like N-n-n-…"

Just say you love Naruto and I'll deliver the blonde dolt to you wrapped up with a bow on top.

Hinata closed her eyes and took a deep breath, like she was about to begin an exercise that would test her whole being. She must have been steeling her self surely, gathering all her will to unburden her mind with what she thought was a deep and personal secret. Hinata's eyes flicked open with the grace of drawing kunais, her eyes focusing on some far away location with all the piercing perception of the Byakugan.

Her it comes. Anko was about ready to leap from her chair, on to the table and do a victory dance for the girl, if she could just say it.

"It's nothing." Sighed Hinata.

BUGGER!

Anko flopped back into her chair and also sighed.

"Are you ok?" Asked Hinata noticing the sudden deflated look to the special Jounin.

"Oh just Hungry" said Anko. Stupid fucking promise! She could have saved everyone such a major head ache if she was just allowed to do something about this.

"Oh I'll leave you so you can eat." Said Hinata.

"No, no, no. There's no need. I'm still waiting for Iruka. He seems to be running late." Said Anko. Iruka was never this late, if he ever was late, what could be keeping him? A loud gurgling rumble interrupted Anko's ruminations on the whereabouts of her tardy boyfriend and drew her attention back to Hinata, who was holding her hands on top of her stomach looking a bit surprised. Anko gave a small smile, at the expense of her throbbing cheeks.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who's hungry." She said.

Hinata gave an apologetic smile. "I skipped Breakfast this morning. I had and idea for my techniques and went straight to the training grounds when I woke up." Anko shook her head. Talk about dedication.

"I hear that Ichiraku's got a special lunch time offer on today. I think you should get your ass down there pronto."

"You're sure you don't mint me going. I mean you'll be on your own." Asked Hinata. Her stomach cried out for food once more.

"Of course I don't mind. get down there before your gut starts to roar. If you hurry you might get beat Naruto there and actually have some ramen before he eats the stalls stock for the day."

Hinata's cheeks flushed once but it quickly faded. "Thank you Anko. Enjoy your lunch with Iruka-sensei." Said Hinata as she exited and politely closed the door. Anko did not hear a sound as the konuchi beat a speedy departure from the academy, which was quite a feat considering the floors of the corridor were made so that even light foot steps made a deep echoing sound, so teachers could catch students who were late or trying to skip class. Damn that girl is good.

Alone once more Anko resumed her causally off angle seating position that she had been in when she had began to think so much about her past, except this time she was thinking about the future. The future of her, her friend and lover and their two students. She could understand why Iruka and Kurenai had decided to assumes the role of watchful guardians concerning there students but Anko thought that was not necessary. There are times when you look a two people, two people with a world of differences between them, but you just know that they belong together. Iruka and herself were one such couple. Unfortunately with those types of inexplicably blissful matches there are always some form of barrier that must be circumvented before the two can become one. With Naruto and Hinata it was the girl's shyness and the boy's oblivious to all things to do with a proper romantic situation. Anko knew that she did not fit the bill for a typical romantic person but she knew, in her own special way, more than a dozen ways for the blonde knight to finally claim the heart of the princess he had won so long ago. It would be so easy to do it all any of them had to do was to stop taking such a timid approach and tell Naruto to wake the fuck up and smell the panties.

Anko snorted. She was getting worked up again, over another stupid reason. Bloody promise not to tell Naruto…

The grumpy expression slid like oil from Anko's face and pooled into a look of sudden and surprising realization. This look did not last long as the snake ninja's eyes narrow and the corners of her mouth drew up, like the blades of an assassin drawn with lethal grace, into a smile worthy of the Kyubbi. If Anko had a mustache she would be twirling it at this moment. For those who knew her they would reconise this face and would promptly become nervous. Mitarashi Anko was having a wonderfully wicked Idea.

She had promised not to tell Naruto but she had made no such promise about talking to Hinata. The girl's tendency to be over looked had presented Anko with the opportunity that she had been waiting for. If she guessed right the quite ones tended to have very an activity sexual imagination, just look at her Iruka.

A sinister chuckle echoed within Anko's throat as she mentally thrashed out a plan to use this newly revealed information. The only down side to putting this plan into action was that she would have to have a short lunch with Iruka. If she spent the normal amount of time having lunch with him that she normally did that annoying part of her brain that she often kept silent would speak up and convince her not to do it. When Anko had a plan, that was not part of work, she had to act on it in the heat of the moment otherwise it was lost.

The door to the staff room opened once more, this time with enough force for it to bounce against the wall in stood it. Anko stopped her plotting to see who this new visitor was. When Anko saw what had opened the door an eyebrow twitched in puzzlement. A stack of papers. A floating two and half foot stack of floating papers suspended in midair. Anko knew stacks of papers did not float by them selves so she widened her field of inspection. She looked down and saw that the stack had a pair of leg, a pair of legs she recognized easily even if they were clad in the standard issues trouser of the village ninja.

"Hi sweetie." Said Anko, reflexively smiling, causing her cheeks to hurt again, she need would ice packs for her face later at this rate.

"Hi Dear." Came the voice of Iruka sounding very tired and strung out. Anko got up and took the top half of he stack off her boyfriend. With half the stack in her hand she was able to see his face. She often wondered why no one had snapped Iruka up before her. Asides form the fact he was kind and loving he was downright handsome too. His skin was a light tan colour which made his soulful eyes stand out even more. His brown hair was tied back and held in place in spiky pony tail by a band and his forehead protector, which was always buffed and polished to set a good example for the genin. His face was very appealing and Anko thought he looked gorgeous when he smiled. She even liked his scar. She found it quite cute that when Iruka smiled the corners of his scar would perk up and drooped when he grimaced. And right now the scar was drooping like a wet scroll.

His shoulders were slumped light a great unwanted weight was pressing down upon him with a crushing pressure and his eyes looked out pleadingly. Even his usually friendly countenance was gone. Even though he looked quite miserable Anko thought Iruka looked light a very sad puppy, quietly begging for a scratch behind the ears. Anko gave a playful grin which Iruka returned with a small but genuine smile of his own.

If it made his smile aching cheeks were definitely worth it thought Anko.

"That time of year again?" she asked

"Oh yes." Sighed Iruka. It was testing time for all potential genin. For them it was a time for cramming for exams, hunting for that last note to memories and perfecting the techniques for the practical tests. But for the teachers it was and almost endless amount of marking, making reports on teaching standards, having to check and re-check every last little thing just so the administrate staff of the village could have an easy time filling the records of new ninjas. The pen pushers got an easy time while the teaching staff came close to break downs and severe wrist cramps. It one the few things that could knock the caring chunin out of his strife and turn him into a coiled spring of stress, ready to go flying thought air screaming. Iruka seriously pondered that if it was not for the practical test and how the job was the rest of the time he would happily head butt the wall until his brain stopped working.

Anko felt for him, knowing how hard this time was for him. "I'll lay in a supply of bath salts then." She said. During this time Anko went into what Kurenai mockingly called 'house wife mode'. To help reduce the amount of stress in Iruka's life she would make sure that he took breaks regularly and got out of the house for a while, away form numbers and symbols. Fresh cup of herbal tea were provide along with help filing and sorting all of the paper that engulfed the table tops at home. Finally, and Anko's favorite types of stress relieve, were massages and long baths with her act as his alluring mermaid. It was kind of nice do some of the simple things and looking after her boyfriend but she would lamp anyone who even suggested that Anko was domesticated.

"Thank you." He said as if she had just saved him from a grisly demise. "Did I ever mention that I love you?"

"Once or twice." Said Anko in a pretend off handed manner. She was told she was loved every morning before they parted for work and missions, she would never get tired of hearing it. The couple walked to the table and placed the two heavy piles down of the surface, which Iruka regarded like a pair of insidious traps waiting to snap at his hands. Anko noticed a tiny red splot poking out from under the corner of his forehead protector. Curiously, she brushed her finger against it and some of it stuck to the slender digit. She looked at the tip and saw that it was now carried a blob of a red viscous substance that held a multitude of glittering flecks. She sniffed at it before tentatively flicking out her pink tongue to taste the sparkling goo.

"Cherry?" she asked. She spotted another splot on Iruka, this time just beneath his ear. She leaned forward and ran her tongue fro the base of his neck to the top of his ear in a long, drawn out scintillating lick. Iruka gave a shudder as Anko purred. "Hmm cherry." Iruka spotted a piece of transferred redness on her lips.

"Let me taste." He said with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. He leaned forward and his lips were met with a matching pair of wonderful suppleness. His hands snaked under Anko's tan coloured coat and found a comfortable position on the beautiful woman's hips, pulling her close to him as her hands reached up played with his bound hair. They stayed together, just enjoying the feeling of being together, silhouetted against the light pouring thought the window. When they broke the kiss Anko, still held close, asked.

"Did you get into a fight with a doughnut to taste that good?"

"Something like that." answered Iruka. "Naruto and Konohamaru were seeing if they could replace the inside of a doughnut with ramen using a replacement jutsu so they could have a ramen snack on the go without having to boil the water first."

"And I thought that the kid was a big enough ramen fiend to begin with. How did you get involved, you catch them during their diabolical experiments?"

"Not really." Iruka answered sounding sheepish. "I was helping out actually." Anko shook her head.

"So Mr. mad scientist, what went wrong?"

"I don't know to be honest. The doughnut started to expand and began to shake. Naruto and Konohamaru bolted at this point while I tried to reverse the jutsu. I failed and it exploded. I was covered head to toe in jam before I washed it off and got changed." Anko laughed as Iruka just smiled, that was until Anko grunted in pain and her hands flew to her sides. "What's wrong?" he asked with concern.

"I've been laughing too hard. Kurenai and Hinata were here before and they were quite entertaining. But I over did it and my sides are killing me and my cheeks hurt." Anko pouted adorably and rubbed her face. Iruka chuckled.

"Well I'll give you a massage later and as for you cheeks…" he placed a soothing kiss on each of her cheeks before giving her an extra one on her pouting lips. Anko squirmed happily in his arms.

"I thought I was supposed to give you the massages at this time?" she said playfully.

"Just being with you relaxes me dear. Plus I want to have a chance for us to have some fun before I start all this." He said jerking his head in the direction of the papers.

"Fair enough but I will get my hands on you soon." Anko looked down at the stacks. "You don't normally have this many though." Iruka grimaced once more, his scar matching his mouth.

"Half of them are Kakashi's. He dumped them on my desk just after my class had finished."

"That goddamn perverted scarecrow. Why didn't to tell him to no?" snarled Anko, quite put out with the silver haired jounin. As if Iruka didn't have enough work over the next few weeks he dumps his share onto her boyfriends lap. He's going to pay for that.

"I would have but he just left them and vanished before I could tell him to do them himself. I went to see the Hokage to find out were he was but he's on a long term mission with Jiraiya. It's why I'm running late, sorry. "

"It's ok. I would like to know what those two pervs are up to."

"I don't know but the Hokage said something about hot springs. She sounded annoyed about it as well."

"Fucking perverts." Snarled Anko.

"If they're perverts what does that make us?" asked Iruka. He knew full well that their relationship did not match what most people thought as a normal relationship, well what most people would admit too. Anko thought about for a few seconds.

"Deviants" she said with surety. They both chuckled and Anko got another three kisses when her cheeks hurt again.

"Listen sweetie, something came up so I won't be able to have a long lunch today." Said Anko. Iruka normally did not have anymore classes today and they would have an extended lunch before they had to take care of any more business. She was a little reluctant to shorten her time with her love but she had to speak to Hinata soon.

It was Iruka's turn to muse for a few seconds. "Is it really Important?" Anko Nodded. "If you want you can go now. I can make a start on these," patting one of the stacks "and I'll have more time tonight and be able to cook something."

"Deal." said Anko as she kissed Iruka again. They let go of each other and Anko went to leave the staff room, ready to put her plan into action.

"I'm thinking of making dangos for dinner tonight." Iruka called over his shoulder as he turned to the abominable papers. Anko froze in the doorway. Her three favorite things in life were.

Iruka.

Home cooking

Dangos.

Iruka heard the sound of rapid footsteps and half turned just before he was barreled over on to his back with his girlfriend straddling him. Her lips descended and Iruka was given an explosively passionate kiss that made his head spin. Anko eventually pulled her head back with a breathy sigh of pleasure as Iruka gasped.

"Did I ever mention that I loved you?" Anko asked as she rested her chin on interlocked fingers.

"Once or twice." Said Iruka with a smile. Anko chuckled, gave Iruka peck on the lips before getting off him and left the room. Iruka was propped up on his elbows as he watched her leave. His smile was still there as he thought about how amazing his lover was. The smile turned to a smirk, like the one Anko wore when sparring, as he turned to look at the papers. "Let's do it." he said as he took a seat and drew out a pen.

You know the drill by now, click the fething* next button.

*I'm a Gaunt's Ghosts fan


	4. Chapter 4

Part 4

Holy Shit!

Swearing did not normally enter her mind but still. Holy Shit! Blasphemy entered even less but on this occasion her brain was willing to make an expectation. Holy Fucking Shit!

Hinata staggered down the street like she was trying to shake off a concussion. Her arms hung limp by her sides and her eyes were glazed over and vacant. Every other step missed as she walked and she stumbled a little. Her sentient mind was not even remotely concerned about petty things little walking straight or making sure she did not bash into anything, her instincts could handle that she more important things to worry about. Those populating the street must have thought that she had come off worse when experiment with her new jutsus but they could not be anymore wrong. Hinata's current mental state was all due to a conversation, actually more of a lecture, which the heiress had just had.

Hinata had been delayed getting to Ichiraku; she had stopped to help some workmen check underground pipes using her Byakugan as their instruments were acting up, when she was waylaid by Anko. She was a little surprised to see the snake ninja as she though she would be enjoying lunch with her boyfriend. The smile that Anko was wearing was positively wicked and Hinata felt a little nervous about whatever the jounin wanted with her. Needless to say what she had been told was anything she was expecting.

Anko had told her straight that she knew she loved Naruto and the blonde should jump at the chance to be with her. When Hinata had tried to stammer out the reasons why she could never tell Naruto or if he even liked her that way Anko just waved the silly reasons and just said that Naruto was a moving target and need to be pinned down before the girl could land a bull's-eye. Hinata was quite confused by this analogy and Anko had decided not to bother with being subtle, which was a relive as she did not do subtle. The advice given to Hinata over the next ten minutes had been the most eye widening, breath stopping and face flushing she had ever received. Anko left Hinata staring at the space the older woman had occupied when she swaggered away pleased with herself and her plan.

How long Hinata had stood there looking out on the world with vacant eyes she did not know but her body was crying out for sustenance and began moving in search off food of its own accord. Her brain was replaying the advice over and over in her head.

It was outlandish, near insane, out of character, raunchy and seemed so right. Most people would have just thought that Anko was completely off her head if they were told what Hinata was told but to the pale eyed girl had taken it all in and was seriously debating wit herself what to do.

One side was screaming not to listen and carry on like she always did and luck and fate would deliverer what her heart desired most. But another part, a part that had been slowly growing louder since she started training all those years back, was bellowing that fate and luck were taking too long and it was up to her to do something. A third voice, this time the quite voice of a clear epiphany, pointed out that fate and luck had not delivered what her heart wanted but instead the means to get it.

What was even more mind numbing was her imagination was ignoring any of the voices and was steaming along by its own accord in a red hot tornado of desire. It was tossing images of great sauciness back and forth in her head and was assembling them, with out permission, into a plan, a plan that was based upon what Anko had told her. As the images got more lurid and salacious, Hinata found her self almost groaning with pent up longing. With a florid face Hinata leaned back against a nearby wall, took some deep breaths and gained some control over her sensually overactive mind.

She could feel that her face was pulsing with and was most likely the colour of the blood that was threatening to drip from her nose again. Still leaning against the wall, Hinata leaned forward and put her hands on her knees as she took in behemoth amounts of air as she fought against the impending nose bleed. Her will compelled the blood to just lighting her face but her body had found others way to react to the wonderfully lurid images of her crush. She felt torrents of sweat pour down her searing body, trying to keep her blood from boiling over, as well as a dampness between her legs that was not sweat.

Hinata absently thought about what a state she must look. Red faced, dripping with sweat and breathing like she had just completed one of Might Guy's 'light' training circuits, which left every one, bar the taijutsu master and his student, regretting agreeing to join in. the heiress hoped she could get her rebelling body under control before anyone she knew came along. Heaven forbid a family member or her team mates or…

"Hinata! Hey Hinata."

Naruto. The familiar exuberant calls drew her attention away from the ground before her, and help to stall her fleeing mind, as she beheld the person she could blame for all this, but she knew she never would. The heat haze caused by the bright light of the sun made his image waver and shimmer, making him seem somewhat ethereal, like a glowing being of extraordinary power, as he ran towards her calling out her name. Hinata sometimes hoped that he sounded so happy because he had seen her but she had to keep reminding herself that he was that happy to see anyone and not to take it to heart too much.

Naruto came to a halt, skidding on his feet causing a small dust cloud of form around his legs, and flashed his bright toothy grin. Hinata could see from her leaning position that Naruto was in fact, like he always is, a real person and not some beautiful creature born out of her desire and passion, but Hinata still thought that he had an indescribable presence and aura, beyond that of chakra, that just radiated out of him.

"Hi Hinata." He said brightly.

"Hello Naruto-kun." Said Hinata in a voice that was just above a whisper. Whether it was because of the heat or what Anko had just told her moments before Hinata would not know why her voice had shrunk back down to the whisper that was so normal for her all those years ago. The risqué part of her mind whisper in a silken tone that it was because he was so damn handsome, to which Hinata was inclined to agree. Like the rest of the rookie nine he had grown over the years, because of aging and the effects of constant training.

His hair, the colour of the sun's radiance, sprouted on top of his head in an unruly mass of spikes, loosely held in place by his scratched and battered forehead protector that sat proudly around his head. His face was lightly tanned and adorable whisker marks decorated his cheeks. His nose was straight and had a sort of canine like quality to it and would quiver when ever Naruto smelt something he liked, mostly ramen. But Hinata two favorite features of his face were his mouth and eyes. His lips just looked so inviting to her and when they parted she was treated to that winsome smile that made her feel warm on the inside. His eyes were a fathomless cerulean, like two drops of ocean water that teamed with life and sparkled with vibrance. Hinata often had to look away from those two sapphires; else she would become lost in them and would spend the rest of her life just gazing into the warmth that they reflected.

His bright orange clothes now sported a large section of black but still stood out like a beckon as they hugged his trim frame but were still loose enough to be comfortable. Hinata knew beneath the bright clothing his body was tight and trim, a form of hard muscle underneath smooth skin, she could remember the feel of his body from when she woke up cradled in his arms just days before, it was a memory that she would carry forever and would use it whenever she felt lonely at night. All of Naruto's physical aspects came together in him to make the only man Hinata had truly desired. Unfortunately it also had the same effect on some, well quite a few, of the young women in the village as well.

But unlike Hinata they never saw what truly made Naruto beautiful. His kind soul and gentle nature off set by his unwavering will and devotion to his friends and the village.

When Hinata had first got to know of Naruto in the academy she was amazed by how different he was, especially compared to her. While she was the heiress to one of the most prestigious clans in the history of village and possessed a formidable bloodline, she felt weak and insignificant and had become used to being over looked. He was an orphan with no discernable talents and had the scorn of most of the village, and yet believed that he could anything that he set out to do.

See this for the first time was like a flash of realization and inspiration. If Naruto could over come the problems in his life to become the best that he possible could be. At first it was just curiosity about how he was so confident that lead Hinata to follow him around trying to discover what it was that made him like that. She could not remember exactly when fascination turned to admiration but she remembered what it felt like to swoon around him and what it was like to blush apart from when she was embarrassed. She thought at first that she must have been crazy to be doing what she was doing, following someone around trying to become something that she was not. But the pessimistic side of Hinata was proved wrong by the unexpected words of the blonde boy.

The first was just before her fight with Neji, her team mates had told her to surrender and not fight. But her growing pride and courage had refuse but during the vicious beating she suffered she felt them waver, it was only the voice of Naruto telling her not to give up that made it possible for her to go on to the end, even though she came close to dying, she found it possible to tell her cousin that he was wrong and that he was the one who was truly weak because he believe his fate to be sealed. She learnt so afterwards that Naruto had made a vow with her blood to defeat Neji. It was a gesture that had touched her deeply despite the somewhat obscene matter that it was done; it's the thought that counts.

The second time was when she found Naruto in the grip of self doubt, something she was very familiar with, before his fight with Neji. Listening to him feeling so low was almost like a complete reversal of their positions. Since it was her job to help him she knew just what to do. She told him earnestly just what he had done for her and that she truly admired his will never to give up and that it had shown her that even in defeat you should always get back up. Watching the confidence come back to his face was one of the best sights Hinata had even seen. As he walked away and said that she was a "dark and weird girl" she felt her stomach fall to be thought of like that but when he said he like people like her mind stopped. He liked people like her. On that day the first sparks of love began to glow along with her new will never to give up and to show Naruto how good she could be. Now that she thought about it he was the first person to acknowledge her as both a ninja and a person.

Hinata stopped her mental journey to the past and focused once more on Naruto, right there and now in front of her. Yes she saw what truly made him beautiful, unlike those conceited tarts that never used give him the time of day and now they trying to get his attention every day. Goddamn, wretched bitches. If she could she would… holy shit. Talking to Anko must have brought out Hinata's aggressive side which usually only came out in the most intense of fights and not normally that visceral.

Oh talking to Anko. At the thought of the conversation Hinata felt another flash of desire course thought her, making her knees give out slightly. Hinata's mouth let out a quiet moan.

"Hinata are you ok?" asked Naruto. Hinata had just moan like she was sick. Hinata, still slumped against the wall, turned her head to look at him. Her face was beat red, she was covered in sweat and her eyes looked glazed over. "Are you still sick?" Naruto remember clearly a few days ago when Hinata had a colossal nose bleed.

Hinata's mind was once more in the searing grip of her passion and could only manage a few unintelligible burbles and squeaks.

Naruto looked truly worried for the violet hair woman.

"You are still sick." He said. He thought for a second before his bright smile returned "I know what will make you feel better." Naruto was so pleased that he had thought of something this time instead of going into a panic.

Please not the hospital again. Thought Hinata, the last thing she need was another stay in an uncomfortable bed and have her father ask her some embarrassing questions about her health, how any man could ask questions like that was beyond her.

"Ramen will make you feel better. It always works for me. Ichirakus does the best Ramen in town, no the world. I'll take you there." Brilliant he got to go to Ichirakus with some one and he had thought of a way to make Hinata better, fantastic. After the failed attempt to make a ramen doughnut, which was a huge disappointment, although seeing Iruka-sensei covered in jam was funny, Konohamaru had raced off to find the rest of his team. Naruto was left alone on his trip to the worlds' greatest ramen stand. He often went to Ichirakus by himself but having someone with him made the ramen, it at all possible, taste better. He had seen Hinata and wanted to see how she was and now she could come with him, his day just got much better.

Hinata, on the other hand, was just relieved that she was not going to the hospital again. In fact going to Ichirakus with Naruto did not sound too bad, in fact it sounded like something out of her dreams. It sounded like a date. Hinata felt another small swoon again before getting a hold of her self. It was not a date Naruto just wanted to make her feel better, that was all. But Hinata found it hard to believe that as her mind kept throwing tantalizing Images at her about the possibilities of her, Naruto and ramen.

Seeing Hinata almost fall down Naruto decided to act quickly. He gently seized one of Hinata's amazingly soft hands and half walked and half jogged to the ramen stand. While it was not the tender walking hand in hand to a romantic dinner Hinata was not complaining.

Five minutes later the pair found them selves seated at the ramen stand. Naruto had cheerfully ordered two bowls of the new bacon special ramen and then asked Hinata what she would like. Hinata giggled and ordered just one bowl of bacon special. Naruto wolfed down his first bowl in the time it took Hinata to have three bites of hers. Before he dove into his second bowl he looked and Hinata, who was wearing that delicate smile of hers, and at her mostly full bowl. He smiled apologetically and ate his second bowl at a more sedate pace and the two talked. They talked about past missions, fights, the future (I'm going to become Hokage, Yeah!) and many things. Naruto was enjoying himself a lot he like Hinata and she was cool to talk too, he just wished the old man behind the counter would stop smiling like he knew something every time he took another order from them.

Hinata was enjoying herself as well, she always liked to talk to Naruto and her blush had reduced down to a light dusting on her cheeks. Even more to her relief talking to Naruto had distracted her to rampaging imagination, it was still there talking to her but she was able to focuses on having a very nice meal. At one point whilst slurping up a noodle it and flicked up and hit Hinata on the tip of her nose, leaving a nice spot of ramen juice on her nose along with a bewildered look. Naruto laugh gently and told her that happened to people who were not used to eating ramen, like he was. Naruto was then rewarded with a noodle whiplashing up on him, except his carried a piece of bacon which slapped him right between the eyes. The affronted look that Naruto gave the bacon, still sat on the bridge of his nose, caused Hinata to laugh. Naruto soon began laughing as well, flashing his brilliant teeth again. The hyuga heiress really liked his smile, which was flashed a lot while they ate lunch. A few minutes passed again with the sound of pleasant conversation as they reached a point that Hinata had been half dreading, the subject of their team mates. Whenever Naruto talked about his team he would invariably talk about Sakura and how wonderful she was. With the day she was having she really did not think she would be able to control her self if Naruto sang Sakura's praises, especially with Hinata's aggressive side rearing its head to day.

But it never came, Naruto talked about how Sai could be some weird and annoying with his remarks and comments but was kinda cool really and good to have in a fight. And when he got to Sakura, to which Hinata internally braced her self for, he talked about how strong she was and how good her healing techniques had gotten. While it was still praise for the pink haired girl it was a far cry away from the blonde's normal amount of adulation of the girl. Hinata felt that there was something to this, and maybe because of her rebellious side that was running wild or it was the faint hint of hope, she decided to probe into this.

"N-N-Naruto-kun are you going with anyone to the festival?" she asked quietly. The festival was one of several that the village held. Some were held in a particular celebration while others, like the one a few weeks away, were just held for fun.

"Huh?" Naruto had become absorbed in his ramen again, "Oh no, I'm not going with anyone."

"Oh. I thought you would have asked Sakura-san." Said Hinata, casting out the verbal lure to get her answer.

Naruto stopped eating, faced Hinata and gave a wry smile as he scratched the back of his head.

"Well you see… I think that it would be kinda of awkward if I asked Sakura to go."

"Why is that?" asked Hinata feeling very surprised about this. Festivals were time when you would ask someone to go with you and romantic things would happen. It was a hugely popular way of people their age to get together, so why would Naruto pass up an opportunity like that?

"During my training with Ero-sennin I learned some things that had nothing to do with training. No don't worry nothing like that," Naruto said hastily as he saw the expression of disbelief on Hinata's face, Naruto's teacher had a legendary reputation. "We spent a lot of time talking about relationships, most of them him trying to get a new idea for one of his books, I didn't pay it much mind at first, figuring all his questions about Sakura and what if we weren't really good for each other was him going through a writers block and trying to find something he could sue in his sordid books."

"Besides I was convinced Sakura was the one for me. When I got back I asked her out quite few times, a lot actually. But every time she turned me down, beat the hell out of me for getting on her nerves or both. Each time it happened Ero-sennin's words kept coming back to me. After a while I realized that Sakura was wrong for me."

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun, for bringing that up." Hinata felt quite bad about making Naruto relive something he might have wanted to forget, all for her own selfish reasons.

"Don't be." Said Naruto brightly, bring the happy mood at the stall back. "Me and Sakura talked about it and we both still friends, and I love having friends so it not a big problem." Naruto took a huge gulp of his sorely neglected ramen before continuing. "Besides I'm sure I'll find a really beautiful girl to fall in love with, and won't hit me all the time."

Naruto let out a chuckle, which in turn lead Hinata to join in with her own lilting laugh. The conversation carried on, with Hinata talking about her own teammates, about her not going to the festival with anyone, to which Naruto failed to pick up on, and a myriad of other things they were clad top share with each other.

The two young ninjas were in the middle of discussing the weird behavior of Iruka and Anko when Hinata noticed that Naruto had started to stare at the wall and had stopped devouring his seventh bowl of ramen, taken to rolling it around his chopsticks. The look in his eyes had Hinata feeling somewhat concerned.

"Naruto-kun are you ok?" asked Hinata. This was complete turn in the mood. What could wrong? Naruto turned to look at her, his expression one of great worry. He looked between her and the floor several times before meeting her gaze, Hinata forced herself not to look away for those wonderfully soulful eyes.

"Erm… Hinata do you not like me?" Naruto asked slowly, almost as if he was afraid. Hinata was taken aback by this question. Why would Naruto think that she did not like him, she loved him. How did he come to think that?

"I don't understand Naruto-kun." She asked, surprised that her voice did not waver.

"Well it's just ever time I see you, you're always red and faint around me. I asked the others if you were ill and they said no. So I thought it was because you don't like being around me. I forgot that today when I brought you here. I'm sorry if I've made you uncomfortable by making you do something you don't want to. Really I am."

Hinata sat stock still, her mouth slightly open, just looking at Naruto. Naruto felt cold on the inside. He was having such a good time he had forget to think about that Hinata might not like him. He had learned from his attempts to win Sakura that he could accidently ignore the signs that he might be wrong in he way that people thought about him. All the things that Hinata did had came together into the idea that she might not be comfortable around him but he was not sure about that. He hoped that she did like him, as really did like spending time with her, she was really nice. But the way she was looking at him gave him the answer.

"I'm sorry Hinata, I'll leave." He said morosely as started to get up.

"No don't!" Hinata cried out, a lot louder than she thought that she could ever say anything to Naruto. Naruto sat down feeling very confused and shocked. "I do like you Naruto," you don't know how much, "and I'm enjoying myself today. I really like talking to you, you're my inspiration." Holy shit! I can't believe I just said that. Now Naruto going to think I'm really weird. As Hinata gave herself a mental kicking Naruto had grown even more confused.

"Inspiration?" he asked slowly. Hinata quickly snapped back to the embarrassing situation and thought quickly about how to stop it getting worse.

"Well you know how I used to struggle at the academy." Naruto gave a slow nod.

"But you got good, really good" he said trying to defend Hinata against herself.

"It was because of you." She said softly as she looked away.

"Eh?" said Naruto. This really made no sense.

"I used to give up easily back then. I thought I was really weak and useless. But I saw you and how you kept going even when others made fun of you. I saw you and realized that I could do it, that I could become better despite my problems. Even when Neji had me beaten you were there to make me believe in myself again. I owe it all to you for becoming a good ninja." Hinata could not believe she just said that. Her face flushed again, this was so awkward.

Naruto felt very strange, one hand he was still shocked that he had such an impact on Hinata's life, she was a hyuga and damn good ninja failures like him don't inspire people like her, and one the other hand he felt a swell of pride and happiness that he had been able to help her.

"You really mean that?" he asked.

"Yes" she answered quietly

"Well you did the same for me. I mean during the first test of the chunin exam you put your neck out for me by letting me copy off you and before my fight with Neji you made me feel like could beat him. So… Thank you Hinata."

"You're welcome, thank you too." She said with her small smile.

"So you do like me then?"

Go on tell him that you love him. Hinata's desires had begun to get louder again. If there was a time this is it.

"Yes I do like you. I really like being your friend." Said Hinata. Me and you are going to have words missy. Great thought Hinata I'm going crazy.

"Great." Said Naruto rubbing the back of his head. "I really like being your friend as well. So all that blushing and fainting is…"

"It's just because of who I am that's all." Said Hinata trying not to sound too embarrassed.

"That's ok I kinda like it, it makes you look really cute." Said Naruto as he turned back to his now cold ramen, not realizing the implication of what he just said. Hinata was doing another impression of a statute before she blinked a few times and quickly turned back to her ramen, with a slightly brighter blush and a bigger smile adorning her face. He thinks I'm cute.

"Hey Hinata." Naruto's normal smile had returned as Hinata came out of her internal happy dance. "I heard you've got some new techniques. What are they?"

Hinata smiled as she told him about the three new techniques that she had been working on with Kurenai-sensei and Neji. Naruto sat there, ramen forgotten; just listening to Hinata described the awesome moves she made, every so often exclaiming how cool they were. Hinata finished and took a deep breath; she had got so into telling Naruto that she almost forgot to breathe properly. His reaction and genuine interest had just made her carry on , not wanting to stop till she told him every thing about them, not even her team mates wanted to know that much about anything she did.

"Hinata can I help with them too? I mean I saw that move you use when we looking for that smelly bug think and that was awesome." Naruto really wanted to see Hinata's new moves.

Hinata had quick flash back to that mission, were she had proven her self. Were Naruto had seen her naked, although he did not know it, Hinata often relieve that memory.

"Yes I would be delighted if you help." She said once she came back to the moment.

"YES." Said a very happy Naruto. They carried on with their meal, the awkward part of their conversation mostly forgotten but the secure feeling within themselves that they defiantly had a good friend remained and always would. Naruto had to leave but insisted that Hinata stay and finished her last bowl as he paid for the meal. As he walked away Hinata felt very good. With the way things were now maybe she could win Naruto's heart with out having to use the methods that Anko had suggested. It was not that she did not like the idea of using them; it was just that the way she wanted to do it felt safer. Her warm smile stayed in place as she watched Naruto walk away in that care free way of his, until he was stopped by two girls in scandalous outfits. Naruto looked like prey caught in a trap, wide eyes searching for a way out, as the two girls flirted outrageously with him. After a few cringe worthy moments of refusal he politely excused him self and made a hasty escape. The girls continued to eye up the blonde haired ninja, most his taunt read end, before giggling to themselves and sashaying away.

Hinata's eyes did not follow them, the two pearls were locked on to the place where the shameful tableau of unwanted lusted had taken place. Anyone who was trained in the ways of the ninja would see that the look in Hinata's eyes was the same cold gaze that one had when they had made a resolve and would carry it out no matter what.

There had been a few times in Hinata' life that she ignored here fears and timidness and did what her heart thought was right. This sometimes led to actions that most would think to be extreme or dangerous. Seeing those too harlots trying to flirt with Naruto had awoken that side of her again. She almost bitterly came to the conclusion that if she took it slow that she wanted she might lose Naruto before she could have him. It was time to do something drastic; she would use the methods that Anko had suggested. So you've finally came around, the voice of her desires whispered. Hinata already had a plan in mind and she would execute it tonight.

Throw the switch Igor! Or the next button which ever you prefer.


	5. Chapter 5

Part 5.

The night sky hung above Konoha, like a great satin bed sheet stretched out. It sparked and twinkled with a multitude of stars, like a million precious diamonds studded into the endless blackness. The dimly glowing suns of the streetlights tried to out shine this masterpiece of merging of dark and light but failed miserable against the beauty of the twilight. All this happening underneath a drowsy crescent moon, like the eye of a sleeping divinity settling down to rest underneath their bejeweled cover.

Naruto grinned foolishly to himself as he walked home. He always thought he got poetic when he had a good day, and today had definitely been a very good day. Even thought his plan of a ramen doughnut was a bust and he had spent most of his afternoon submitting and rewriting mission reports, the administration staff could be so anal, his meal with Hinata had more that made up for that. He really did like having her as a friend and finding out that she really like being his friends as well was a great relief as he had been worrying that she might not like him for a while now. He had a good time and she wanted him to help out with her training. That was awesome.

Hinata was awesome.

Despite the numbers of offers he had been receiving from an alarming large number of strange girls, Naruto had not sat down and have a meal with a girl in a long time, and never more than two friends just hanging out. Now that he thought about it the only girl he had ever spent any amount of time with was his team mate Sakura and most of that was due to the fact that she was his teammate. An almost self mocking snort escaped from the blonde as he thought about the fact that a just a few years ago he would have been so excited, to the point of seeming like a child, to have been having a meal alone with Sakura. But now that thought did not seem as desirable as it once did.

As a theoretical thought, Naruto replayed the meal he had to day except he mentally had it with Sakura instead of Hinata. After a minute of the meal playing in his head like a badly directed comedy Naruto came to the conclusion that if he did have the meal with Sakura she would have yelled at him at some point, called his intelligence into question and most likely had whacked him using her freakishly enhanced strength. This was not to say that she was a demon bitch from hell, Sakura was just Sakura. Naruto had worked out soon after coming back from his training that Sakura would make a terrible girlfriend form but she made a fantastic friend. Besides she was still in love with that bastard Sasuke. Naruto was going to make sure when he managed to get his hands on that moron again not to beat him too badly otherwise there would be nothing left for Sakura.

Naruto smiled up at the night sky, Sakura would probably heal Sasuke, beat him to a whimpering pulp, heal him again, kiss the bastard and then beat him again just to make sure that the message had sunken in.

The blonde ninja rounded a dimly lit corner as he carried on home, which was located in one of the back areas of Konoha, and cast his gaze upon the luminescent moon. When the moon glowed with its silvery light, like it did on many nights, Naruto found his thoughts turning back to Hinata. She was pretty much a complete opposite to Sakura. She was outwardly sweet and gentle and seemed to be that one the inside as well, years or traveling with training and mission had introduced Naruto to a legion of people, both male and female, who sweet and sugary on the outside but rotten to the core on the inside. Hinata was definitely not one of those people. Naruto thought back to the times that she had given him help, even though he never asked for it, and felt a strong feeling of a solid friend ship when he thought of her now. She was the type of friend that he had always wanted, always there to help when they were need and there just to hang when there was no problem. The jinjuriki decided that he would spend more time with the pale eyed girl outside of missions and helping her in training.

It was surprisingly easy to talk to her about anything and he really liked to hear what she said as well. Naruto had to admit that when ever he talked to a girl, either one he knew or a stranger, he would unknowingly start to put him self forward a bit more and would laps into boasting. He had always been a confident person but Naruto knew, usually when he thought back onto these encounters, he was letting him mouth run away and would start to sound like someone that he would describe as a dick. But when he talked with Hinata he did not boast or tried to make himself seem better, she genuinely liked him for who he was and that really made him happy.

Naruto had felt a peculiar feeling of pride and humility at the same time when Hinata had told him that he was her inspiration. He had expected that he would hear that in his life but he had assumed that it would be when he was Hokage not at this point in his life and not form someone he knew well. But never the less it did make him feel good because Hinata was one damn fine Ninja and would become one of the greatest in his opinion.

Plus she was really pretty.

Naruto stopped mid stride and stood staring down the dark enshrouded street as he hit upon the one problem of being friends with Hinata. Hinata was the kindest and most delightful girl he had ever met, and she deserved her prince. The man who would win Hinata's heart would most likely be the perfect gentleman, clean cut, handsome with manners that would shine in the presence or royalty. The type of man who would sweep her of her feet and provide her with all the caring and love that she would ever want or need. That someone was not Naruto. He knew he would not be that man nor would he ever be that man. He knew that he was somewhat wild and out of control and his manners were no where near the level of gentry. Naruto idly thought that when he was Hokage, and if Hinata had not found someone, that he might just see if there could be something between them. But he doubted it; a man would have to be a completely blind fool not to notice that Hinata was interested in them. She was the perfect girlfriend material.

Naruto let out a sigh and carried on home, he was almost there now. He was happy to be Hinata friend he just hoped that they could stay that way with out him doing something stupid. That might be difficult because he found it hard not to think about how wonderful Hinata was and how pretty she was. In fact during the meal, as they talked, Hinata seemed to get prettier and prettier until she was out right beautiful in his eyes. He always knew she was good looking but today he had to seriously restrain himself from staring at her all the time. When he left he was half relived and saddened at the time. He was saddened that he had to stop spending a kick ass time with a person who was rapidly becoming one of his best friends but relived that he got out of there before he did something stupid, like ask Hinata to the festival. That would have been really dumb.

Naruto climbed the steps to his apartment and searched for his keys as continued to think about Hinata and the fact there was a good chance that he would dream about her tonight. As he opened his door and went in he could not decide if he wanted to dream about her or not. They were some of the best dreams he ever had but sometimes they were more lurid than he would like. He like and respect Hinata too much to think about her in such a way, even if they were good thoughts. It was just not his…

Naruto's ruminations stopped there as he closed the door to his apartment and with it the door his conciseness was closed as his mind was gently put to sleep as he slumped down upon his floor without knowing that he had even been trapped.

Naruto was no stranger to being knocked out; it came with being a Ninja. He had been rendered unconscious by many things, enemy attacks, training accidents, Sakura's fists and one time a freak incident involving ramen and swimming trunks. After being knocked out so many times Naruto had come to the conclusion the it was not the actually act of being knocked out that he disliked the most, it was coming round after wards was the part he really hated. Normally he'd awake with either a splitting head ache, pain were ever he had been hit, woozy form being under a genjutsu or a combination of these and more. So when Naruto awoke after being knocked out after coming into his apartment he was quietly surprised that he did not feel any of the effects that he usually associated with losing conscious. His mind was functioning and his body did not feel numb or sluggish, which was strange considering he had just had a genjutsu floor as he got home, Naruto might not how to use them but he knew what they felt like, mainly due to Jiraiya torturing him with them during his training, mush to the old man's amusement.

Since his mind was working properly the blonde ninja decided to take stock of the situation before deciding a course of action, he had learned some patience over the years, just a little but some. The first thing that he noticed, and to his dismay, what that he was blind, there was something tied to his head enshrouding his vision. But this became secondary when he realized something that caused panic to rise with in him, he was naked.

Naruto surged forwards to tear the blindfold from his eyes so he could see what the hell was going on, or he tried to. His attempts to see were thwarted by the issue that his hands and feet were restrained and he was half sitting, half lying on something soft yet springy. Naruto's racing mind was able to conclude through all of his clamoring thoughts that he was tied to his bed naked after being knocked out. This better not be one of Ero-sennin jokes, even for that old pervert this was way too far. Naruto's only comfort this point was that he was at least still in his home. He knew the smell of old ramen and stale socks anywhere, plus he knew what his be felt like.

The captive struggled fruitless for a view seconds before collapsing back in defeat. Whoever had knocked him out, stripped him and tied him up was very good at genjutsu and restraining techniques and curiously gently too. His bounds, while firm and secure, were not tight enough to cut of circulation and were made of some material that was to going to dig in and mark his wrists and ankles. His quilt had been rolled up and placed underneath his back so that he was not resting at an awkward angle or had his back pressed against the headboard. A thin pillow had also been placed behind him this time behind his head. Apart from the obvious lack of clothes and sight Naruto conceded he was quite comfortable. Who ever had captured him only wanted him unable to escape not in any sort of pain, so that ruled out a sick and twisted enemy or for that matter one of his perverse teachers. He also worked out that it was a forehead protector, most likely his own, was acting as his blindfold, he could feel the metal against his face cushioned by the cloth.

Naruto certainly could not see but he was sure that there was another person in the room with him; he could feel the presences of someone else, someone who was being very quite, almost if they were shy.

"Who's there?" he asked trying to keep the tremor that was running up his body from entering his voice.

Hinata filched slightly as she brought a hand to the naked skin above her heart. She had been standing there for quite some time now since she had got to the stage of removing Naruto's clothes and binding him to the bed. Anko had not given Hinata any specific ideas or instructions so she was pretty much making it up as she went along, so she was not sure if what she was doing was the best way to do it. Once she had subdued her love she had placed sound blocking jutsus on the apartment, one of the suggestions of Anko, and carried Naruto to his bed. She prepared he bed as it once now and stripped Naruto of his clothes. She had almost lost control of herself when she had him naked, she could have just satisfied years of love and desires in one moment and not have to fear Naruto's reaction. But that thought was snuffed out in a mere second, even though she was doing an act that normally she would have considered insane she wanted Naruto awake so he could enjoy it and also if he did not want to after she had explained her self she could let him and skulk away. She then tied him to the bed but before she released her jutsu she tied his forehead protector around his eyes, if he did not know it was her at first she would not get as nervous, it made sense to her.

Hinata now stood with a hammering heart as she tried desperately to think of and answer that would let Naruto know it was her and yet not at the same time. But her mind was as stunned as she was. All she was able to do was look. She saw the half frighten, half angry expression on Naruto's face. Hinata felt a great surge of guilt when she looked at that expression but silently vowed to make it up to Naruto with what she was about to do. Her eyes slowly drifted down Naruto's body, all muscle and flawless skin, cast a pale shade in the leeching light of the moonlight that was coming in passed the curtains in the window. Hinata continued to look on as Naruto continued to grow more tense, still waiting for answer, when an identity came to her.

"Who are you?" demanded Naruto; the mixture of being angry and scared at the same time was seriously ripping as his already frayed nerves.

"The girl from the water fall." Answered a gently voice. Hinata was surprised at how level and sure her voiced sounded; making Naruto unable to see was working, even if she had to cover up his gorgeous eyes.

The gorgeous eyes in question were stretched wide underneath the blindfold. Even if he lived for a thousand years Naruto would never forget that night. The night he saw that ethereal beauty of moon light and subtle shadows. From the sounds of her lilting voice she had grown up as well, in fact the voice sounded quite soothing to him and Naruto found himself relaxing slightly.

"What do you want?" Naruto inquired gently, he did not want to scare her away again.

"To do something that I've wanted to do for such along time." Came the reply

"Why did you have to blindfold me then?" Naruto asked, the point that he was naked was not on Naruto's mind as he was remembering what she had looked like all those years ago.

"If you saw me I'd have to disappear again." said Hinata with an almost hopeless smile. If he did see her she would have to go away forever, she was not sure Naruto would understand that Hinata wanted him so the waterfall girl was a good disguise for her.

"Then what is it that you want to do." He asked. The question hung in air, filling the room with its suffocating presence. For Naruto it was answer to a tentative situation, for Hinata the time to finally confess what she had always wanted. But the words would not come, like they always did and she was sure that her voice would fail her. But now she another choice she could make.

She made it.

Naruto felt the waterfall girl move graceful across his floor, she must have done it gracefully because he heard not a foot step, and his floor creaked quiet loudly. He could also smell her scent, a type of flower, lavender most likely. He felt the bed dip as she sat down on his and he could feel the warmth radiating off her body. The sensation lead Naruto to believe that she was also naked. Naruto's cheeks flushed but it went unnoticed by Hinata even as she leant forwards with her face just a few inches form Naruto's handsome face. Those sort inches stretched out like miles to the heiress and the seconds felt like eons before she gave her answer.

"This." Came the gently voice and Hinata lent the forwards.

Naruto a set of soft lips press against his and massage his mouth gently as he felt shock surge through out his body, mainly in his chest and groin. A pair of soft hands delicately brushed the sides of his face before settling like falling leafs on his cheeks. Naruto almost moan as the kiss continued. It felt so good, the waterfall girl wanted him and not just in a physical way. He felt the desire in her lips and the care in her hands. He wished this could last forever.

Hinata pulled her lips away, it was the most difficult thing she had ever done, but she had to know if Naruto wanted to carry on, if he wanted her. She looked as his expression and felt her heart dropped. He looked hurt, almost pouting. This was a bad idea; no in fact it was a horrible idea. What had possessed her to do this? She claimed to love Naruto and yet…

Hinata's mental flogging was stopped as Naruto move his head forward and by pure luck captured the waterfall girl's lips with his own. As his lips meet hers Hinata felt pure joy filled her as she gratefully returned it. Her hands retuned back to Naruto's face but now the roamed slightly, caressing the contours of his visage and exploring his blonde spikes. Naruto did groan this time and Hinata found that she really liked that noised and decided to see if she could make Naruto make it some more. As their lips continued to gently play against each other Hinata slipped her tongue into his mouth and slowly explored the blonde's mouth. Naruto did moan again at this sensual invasion and in response lets his tongue move into his partner's mouth. The waterfall girl moan in delight as he probed her mouth and soon they were both lost in the kiss. It was earnest yet filled with beautiful desire like the waves of the ocean lapping against the sands of the beach.

Hinata slowly moved her hands to just behind Naruto's ear and began to make lightly make circles, just teasing his skin with the barest touch of her finger tips. Even thought his heart was hammering and the blood was rushing to his lower regions, Naruto found the gentle massage was soothing yet also exciting him. Hinata started to leak the tiniest amounts of chakra she could managed through her fingers as she slowly moved down the sides of his neck. His muffled calls of pleasure continued with renewed longing as Hinata shifted, keeping the kiss going, as she straddle Naruto around his waist. Since he could not feel any fabric around the legs the now had him pinned it was confirmed to Naruto that she was indeed naked but this thought was shunted out of his mind as her fingers continued to traced their way down his neck and onto his chest. Everywhere they touched Naruto felt his skin bristle in pleasure and he would jolt every time she managed to touch a sensitive spot. Whatever she was doing it was so good it was almost torturous, she made his body feel that it was building up to something yet he knew that the way she was touching him now was not going to make it happen. The electric feeling would just continue to grow until she changed whatever it was she was doing.

Hinata broke the kiss once more but this time Naruto did not pout. This time he panted as her charka injecting fingers stimulated all the pleasure sensors in his body under her touch to their highest degree. Hinata was secretly proud of the technique she had developed using her family's most revered fighting style. She sometimes wondered what the elders would say if they ever found out what she could do with it. She had used it on her self at first, discovering during the climax of a private moment alone in her room, and had began to experiment. She found that is would light up her whole body in a way that touching herself would never do. She had figure that night that it felt good for her it would feel good for Naruto. She was right

As thin sheen of sweat began to coat his body as Hinata moved her fingers down to his chest, tracing swirls and patterns as she went. She traced a swirl around each of his nipples before lightly brushing her glowing digits on them. Naruto moan uncontrollably and his whole body tense as his hip rolled forward. Hinata moved her hand just to the sides of those sensitive spots as a thought dipped in twilight entered her head. She knew that where she was stimulating right now would not bring Naruto any satisfaction; it did not work like that, but it would be sending him close to the edge. What she realized right at that moment was that she enjoying holding Naruto close to the edge, to be the one he needed, to be the one in control. It was a thought that disturbed her yet made a flush of desire run through her again. She stroked Naruto's nipples again and as he bucked again she leant forwards again and kissed him. Any thoughts that she was being cruel to Naruto was expelled as she felt the hungry way that he kissed her as she began to lightly pinch his nipples.

Hinata kept kissing the bound blonde as she moved her hands down lower, past his the rest of his chest and onto his abdomen. Naruto collapsed back down again as she removed her lips. She traced her fingers around the edges of the muscles in Naruto's belly. He felt like she always dreamed, taunt muscles but smooth soft skin covering them. Naruto hissed as her fingers danced over his stomach and waist, completely lost n the sensation until he felt her trace an a lot too familiar swirl on his abdomen. Her fantastic touch must have caused the seal to become visible. The pleasure and happiness left Naruto as he realized that she knew the seal was there and must now what it meant. The waterfall girl must have seen his despair in his face because she spoke for the first time since she kissed him.

"This doesn't make any difference to who you are. This does." Naruto was confused by this until he felt her lips brush against his chest, right above his heart, while long tresses of soft hair curtained upon him, adding to the wonderful touch of the girls lips. They stayed there, massaging the flesh, until Naruto had forgotten all about the Kyubbi and was making sounds of deep pleasure again.

Hinata pulled back and smiled gently at her blindfolded love. Even if she experienced the most mind blowing orgasm with Naruto tonight she would always treasured the feeling of dispelling his fear and sadness about the Kyubbi. She began tracing his body again as she felt he his already stiff member twitch behinds her, lightly coming into contact with her round rear.

She moved down Naruto, kiss and stroking as she went, making sure to rub her whole body against him as she knelt between his legs. Her hands were still above his groin. She held them there for a few second, enjoying the moment of control, before bring them down in a path that skirted the outside of Naruto's groin, and down to his thighs, leaving a trail of fiery skin in their wake. Naruto rolled his once more and Hinata finally moved her fingers to his manhood. The second her glowing fingers touched the sides of Naruto's quite large penis he began to cry in pent up ecstasy. Hinata stroked the sides of him in painfully slow pace as he now involuntarily strained against the ropes that held him. As Naruto continued to lose his sense of the world Hinata move one hand to the tip of his member, took hold and lightly ran a thumb around the top. The blonde's mouth was held open with a soundless cry as he twitched and writhed in the girls grasp.

Hinata felt his bodies' reaction and knew he must be close. She stopped the glow of her fingers; she did not want this to happen because of a fancy, in effective, trick. The tension went somewhat out of Naruto was the intense surge stopped but it returned in full as the waterfall girl enfolded the tip of him in her mouth. Hinata ran her tongue round in circles, alternating the direction, before she planted feathery kisses down the sides of his manhood. She switched between warm lips and a skilled tongue as Hinata tasted ever inch of him, relishing the unadulterated flavor of the person she had loved for such a long time. Naruto whimpered as she continued her sweet attention until her lips slowly traced their way back to his tip and slowly engulfed him.

The feeling was indescribable to Naruto. He had to fight to keep his hips from bucking forward while his arms and legs seized as his body was rock by the incomparable waves of pleasure that was ebbing thought him. Hinata slowly moved her head up and down, pausing ever so often at the tip of his penis to run more circles around it, as she methodically became used to taking his whole length in her mouth. When she was able to reach the base Naruto was no long able to control him and his hips started to buck forwards in a plea for more. Hinata was more than happy to oblige and began to bob her head up and down his entire length. Naruto's legs lock in an almost painful tension as he gave him self over to the experience. He would not have been able to recall anything at the moment, not even his name. His mind was completely focused upon the feeling of the waterfall girl's lips and mouth, and the wonderful muffled sounds of ecstasy that escaped her as she continued her act. It was strange, the sounds she was making were doing just as much to bring him over the edge as her hands and mouth, she was really enjoying this.

Hinata sped up as Naruto got closer to release. Her head bobbed up and down as she felt him quivering in her mouth. She went down close to the base once more before moving her head back up to the top as Naruto let out a strangled scream. His climax exploded with in Hinata's mouth as she swallowed as much as she could while Naruto's body quaked and shook from the post orgasm sensation.

Naruto slumped back against his quilted cushion as Hinata brought her head up and let out a content sigh. She looked at the panting Naruto and smiled, this was better than she could have possible imagined, and her imagination was vivid. She was finally able to live her dream, with Naruto not only complying but also being somewhat submissive in it, he made no demands or requests, he simple let himself be taken by her. Hinata was not sure whether it was because of a thought that Anko had accidently implanted in her head, or maybe it had been lurking deep inside of her all the time. It did not matter she decided, all that matter right now was Naruto and her being with him. She re-straddled his waist and laced her fingers in his hair again. She gently rolled her fingers through that glorious hair as she contemplated if it was ok to kiss him again. She want to do so just as badly as when they first started but she fretted that he would not want after she had swallowed his semen.

Her question was answer for her as Naruto leaned his head forward with a pleading expression on his face as he searched for her again. Her lips met his again as he came down from the euphoria of her delicious ministrations. The kissed continued for a minute before to Hinata's surprise Naruto broke the kiss. She looked worryingly at his face. This was it, this was the point her asked to be let go, she thought with ice filling her heart.

"Please let me see you." He asked, no almost begged. A thrill went through Hinata as it melted the ice that was cooling her passion. Oh what a feeling but she needed ease Naruto of his want, not to add to it.

"I'm sorry I can't let you see me with your eyes." Said the waterfall girl. Naruto sank further into the quilt. He really wanted to see who it was who cared for him so much, who desired him so much to do this. His chest felt like it was filled with cold hard lead until he felt the knot near one of his wrists being jostled and loosened.

"But I can let you see me with you touch." She gently took his free hand in hers and brought it to her cheek. She let her hand drop and blissfully rested her cheek on his warm hand.

Naruto's mouth hung open in wonder, his hand just cradling the soft flesh before he began to lightly run his fingers across her face. With his hand he saw her. He saw her soft round cheeks, her straight and delicate nose, and her warm mouth which would kiss and suckle his hand whenever it strayed too close. He felt ever contour of her face and saw her for what she was.

"You're beautiful." He said in awe. Hinata felt her heat jump at that and jump further as Naruto slipped his hand into the hair that cascaded down the back of her head and brought her to him. He kissed her, their tongues renewing their battle between each other as his free hand slide down from her head to the ivory column of her neck. His fingers might to have the bliss inducing touch of her own hands but to Hinata they were hitting all the right spots as they hovered over her throat. Hinata sighed again, this time muffled by the kiss, as Naruto moved his caressing fingers further down to the beginning of her mounds. They stayed there, almost hesitantly, before they moved to the swell of her breast. It was Hinata's turn to moan as she lost control as Naruto's hand began to slowly squeeze and knead the soft flesh of her bosom.

Naruto felt his lovers hands tighten around his head and her tongue and mouth move in a fevered fashion as he sampled the magnificently feel of her firm and full breast. They felt amazing, large enough to fill his hand but not too large. He considered as he continued to play with them that they were what he would call perfect.

He stopped squeezing and traced his fingers around her nipple before softly taking the nub between his finger and thumb. Hinata's reaction was instant.

As Naruto rolled and flicked the sensitive peak Hinata was unable to contain her self, she sharply pulled her head away and scream up to the heavens. The sound of her ecstasy spurred Naruto on as he began to play with her nipple more firmly, in away that would not hurt her. Hinata was becoming a slave to Naruto's touch and her whole body had begun react by its own accorded as it rock back and forth, clumsily matching the movement of Naruto's hand. The blonde continued to stimulate her nipple until he reluctantly let go. He was torn for a second between feeling those wonderful globes and exploring the rest of the magnificent girl's body. He decided he could always come back to them after he created the perfect picture in his head.

His hand found her side and glided down the lovely, sweeping curve before settling on her shapely hip. It stayed there, gently rubbing the silken skin, earning appreciative noises from his partner, before he reached forward and cupped one round buttock. Naruto began to stroke and squeeze her posterior with ever increasing pressure as she began a new symphony of sighs and moans. She began to mutter his name as she moved once more with his hand, this time with more vigor and drive as she rubbed her already damp womanhood against his firm waist.

Hinata felt Naruto become hard again, rubbing against her backside that he was touching in such and intoxicating manner that she thought she might climax on top of him as she continued to grind in wanton abandonment. Naruto stopped and Hinata had to literarily bite back a curse as he moved his hand away, it was feeling so damn good. His hand glided up her back, sometimes stopping to stroke now and again, before reaching into her hair, where it promptly became tangled in it.

Naruto thought if someone ever managed to make incense smoke solid it would feel close to the waterfall girl's hair. It slipped and flowed through his fingers, tumbling out of his grasp, as his hand wound and twisted in an attempt to be captured by it. But it would not; it was too soft and flowing. The only way he could ensnare it would to grasp it hard. He could not bring him self to do that, he did not want to hurt her. He let his hand float in the silken ether for a few moments longer before it slid back down her back.

Hinata hoped that Naruto's hand would return to her butt, having her hair played with felt nice but she really wanted something a bit more sensual to happen. His hand reached the small of her back and Hinata felt her hope build, only for it to fade as his hand to swerve away back to her hip. She considered asking, pleading with him to put his hand back on her round peach shaped rear before it moved to her belly.

Hinata desperately tried to hold back a fit of giggles as Naruto's fingers began to dance over her flat and trim stomach. She could not and wisps of laughter escaped her.

Naruto heard the sound and grinned cheekily as he began to tickle her in earnest now, drawing more of the sweet mirthful sound from her.

Hinata caught sight of his roguish smile and could not help her own smile that formed after each chuckle passed over her lips. Even now Naruto was still him self to the core. She happily leaned forward and kissed him with a grinning mouth. Even as they kissed Naruto continued to torment her, making her shudder and shake as she tried to keep their lips together.

Naruto stopped tickling his shaking loved and brought his hand down to one of the strong thighs that were straddling him. Even as he caressed the smooth leg Naruto noted that it had the same underling feel as the rest of her body. A strong body with wonderful feeling skin and heavenly curves. No matter how womanly she was it was obvious to Naruto that the girl making love to him was a warrior woman. That only served to get Naruto more exited, who ever this person was she was trained and lethal. She had to been a ninja.

But Naruto ignored that train of thought as the waterfall girl began to shift on him. Ever time his fingers traced there way to one thigh to another she would roll her hips up towards his hand. Naruto brought his hand to the center of her waist and lowered it at an achingly slow pace as she began to buck upwards to meet his probing fingers. He reached a soft tuft of fine hair and turned his hand over to meet the girl's yearning private area.

He slid his whole hand over her hot womanhood and Hinata let out another sight, this time a more guttural and primal as she rolled her head back. Just him giving her the barest touch sent a flash of euphoria that traveled through her, leaving her leaning back with her head up towards the heavens in silent thanks. The flash came again as Naruto traced a finger around the lips of her vagina, growing slick with her flowing juices, before it found her clitorious. Hinata's world span as he began to softly rub the pink pearl, switching between swirls and strokes, all of it pushing Hinata to the edge of her desire. With each teasing movement of Naruto's finger Hinata was getting closer to ultimate pleasure, she considered asking Naruto to forgo the feather light strokes and apply more pressure but she could not, her voice was stuck in her throat, bound in place by the silent scream that escaped her. Hinata felt Naruto slip his finger away from her velvety bud and almost found her voice of protest until it was stripped away as he slid the now slick finger slowly between her lowers lips and in side of her.

Hinata shudder once, half gasp, half screamed and shudder in delight once more as he began to gently move the probing digit on all directions, experimenting with what would give her the most pleasure.

Naruto felt her collapse against him, her head resting on his shoulder and her arms draped around his neck, as he delved into her silk like folds. He was enjoying this immensely; the warm slickness and her hot breath on the side of his neck fired the passion with. She was now moaning in his ear, gasping with each swirl and flick. Naruto did not know what turned him on more, the feeling of her smoldering womanhood or the breath sounds of satisfaction that were whispered to him. Naruto sped up his actions, wanting to repay the beauty on top of him for the stratospheric feeling that she gave him, the feeling of being wanted. His started to thrust his fingers now, as fast as he dared, and her whispering moans turned into deep pants and barely restrained growls that coursed hot down his ear. She must be close he thought as he turned his head and caught her lips as he brought her to climax.

Hinata was close, so very close. Her whole body felt like surge mass of building electricity, voiding all functions of her mind, just focusing on the lightning rod that was writhing inside of her and the effect it was having on her body. Her skin felt every thing with a sharp and blissful contrast. The ordinary sheets that were tangling around her thrashing knees, the forgiving give of the well worn bed they occupied, the divine touch of Naruto's finely muscled body that acted as a hot surface that she lovingly pressed herself into, she felt his ridged member lightly brushing behind her.

In that moment Hinata knew that what she needed to do, she had to stop Naruto, just for a second, just enough to complete the plan she had started earlier that day. If she did not she knew that the orgasm that was building, one like she had never felt the like of by herself, would filler her to the brim with ecstasy and leavening her in a quivering heap of post bliss shock, happy and tried but unable to do the same for Naruto. This wasn't about her, it was about him.

Hinata, almost fighting against her body, broke the kiss, took hold of Naruto's toned arm with both of her place hands and slowly guided him out of her. After pausing to naughtily like her essence from his fingers, which left Naruto's mouth hung open like an unguarded gatehouse, Hinata placed his arm back to the headboard and expertly bound it once more, leaving Naruto spread out before her.

An adorable pout had formed on Naruto's lips, like he had just been told he was only allowed one bowl of ramen per meal, at the thought that he wasn't going to be allowed to satisfy the waterfall girl. The pout quickly faded into surprise as he felt the girl shift off of his waist and shuffle back and take his penis in a one of her hands. His mind went into overload as she slowly placed the tip at her wet entrance. She slowly lowered her self pass his tip, almost making his eyes roll underneath the blindfold, before she fell all the way on top of him.

It was both wonderful and terrible at the same time. Wonderful for the way her most precious area felt clasping him tight, and terrible for the yelp of pain that she tried to contain to no avail.

Hot tears trickled down Hinata's face and she clutched the head board in both hands in a knuckle-whitening grip as pain flushed through her. She became shock still, like she was hiding in shadows, trying to remain as still as possible less an enemy find her, as a half sob escaped her.

"Are you ok?" came a caring inquiry. Hinata looked up and saw Naruto's handsome face etched with concern and, what she hope for, love. A soft smile spread across his face as he awkwardly reached his bound hands towards hers, in her sudden move to brace against the pain her hands were right next to his. He soothingly stroked the back of her hands before she moved them to interlace with his, where he now continued the touching kind action with his thumbs as he clasped her gently. It went some way to making Hinata forget the pain that still rippled through her. She leant forwards to kiss him but Naruto moved his head to the side slightly and placed his lips and her cheeks. He moved them upwards, kissing away her tears. Hinata smile and turned her head to allow him to kiss away the tears on her other cheek, while wondering how he knew she was crying.

Naruto removed the last of the tears, which he knew were there due to the heightened sense of smell the Kyubbi gave him, hey, it was good for something out side of battle, and quickly found her smiling lips and kissed her softly, just like they had when they had started.

They broke the kiss after few moments while Hinata felt the pain ebb away and was able to adjust to having Naruto's member inside of her. She took a deep breath and slowly began to move, just rising up slightly before lowering down again. She saw and heard Naruto give low gasps of surprise and pleasure as she began to move a little faster. It was starting to feel good for her too, the pain had almost gone, the same electricity as before had began to build again as she too started to vocalize her enjoyment. As they both now gasped lowered and moaned Hinata was now able to come back to the tip of Naruto before lowering herself his entire length. Each time she did this Naruto's shoulders and hips rolled slightly with a hiss passing through his teeth as his body reacted. Hinata kind of like the fact that Naruto was holding his self back, he still had enough of his body free to thrust his hips if he wanted. It touched her deep inside to know that he was still as caring as he always was even though his body want to loose control so badly. She could feel it in every part of him and mostly in his penis that hit every single spot with in her as she slide up and down it. Gasps turned it to frantic panting and moans turned into to barely restrained screams as Hinata now rolled her hips as she rose up and down upon him. The smell of their combined musk filled the room as Hinata leaned in close to him and whispered.

"It's ok. Please don't hold back."

With a primal moan, Naruto clamped his lips onto hers as he now moved with her. After a few clumsy thrusts he matched her rhythm and felt the fire build with in him. With each movement, each sound, each touch he felt his whole body ignite an uncontrollable blaze that was coming to engulf him in pure delight.

Hinata bucked and writhed as the electricity built and surged slightly with each movement. Tears ran down her face once more, but this time they were tears of joy. This was what she had wanted for so long, not exactly like this but it felt just as good, better even, as she had fantasized. What ever the consequences of this night would Hinata thought not of them, all that mattered was the joining with Naruto.

Their hands tightened in their embraced as they felt on another coming closer to their release. Hinata tightened around Naruto as she sank down to his base for the last time while his member bucked and quivered inside of her. Two screams of purest ecstasy merged into one as the fire exploded and the electricity surged. They collapsed against each other as they panted in exhaustion.

Hinata leant her slight frame against Naruto and slide her hands down to his shoulders and chest as tiny pulses of her orgasm still flittered through her. With a sigh she pulled Naruto out of her, relishing the warm feeling of his seed that was left with in her. She would not worry about it, just like the sound blocking jutsus, which had done their job in absorbing a scream that could have been heard by the wall guards on the nightshift, she had taken precaution in eliminating the risk of becoming pregnant, although the thought of being the mother of Naruto's child was not a bad one, it would just not be right just yet. Her hands idly played with Naruto's neck and chin as she relaxed against him, nothing could spoil this moment right now.

"Why?" asked Naruto. She was wrong. "Also who are you? I feel as though I know you. Please tell me."

The slight pleading tone cut like a knife carved from ice through the warmth of her heart. This was the part that she dreaded, the part she had prayed would never come. It was always their in the back of her mind as she worked out her plan but she had been ignoring it the entire time and now it was at the forefront, a great beast that snarled at her in mocking delight.

He was going to hate her. He might not have asked her to stop and obviously liked it but that was because he did not know it was her, it would be such a betrayal to him when she told him. Why had she just not told him earlier, then they could have taken it slow and worked out how they felt about each other. His expression turned worried at her silence and at Hinata was stuck at an emotional cross road. Tell him and risk his rejection or keep silent and safe her self from any heartbreak. But to choose the latter would hurt Naruto and that would tear at her more than anything harsh word he might ever muster.

A third option presented its self, not what she was hoping for but better than the two she had now.

"I am the girl you saw all those years ago," she whispered in a soothing tone. "And as to why…" damn her cowardice, she felt her self falter at the words she had longed to say for such a long time. She clutched to the last vestiges of her courage as she brought her lips to his ear and spoke slow low he might not have heard it.

"I love you."  
Naruto gasped in shock. Of all the things that had happened tonight, a night he never in his wildest dreams thought was possible, this was the last things he thought would happen. Somebody loved him, truly loved him, even if the way they showed it was very unorthodox. Tears wetted the cloth over his eyes as his heart fluttered. He so want to see her, he started to pull against his bindings, to rip the infernal cloth for his eyes and look upon her.

Hinata felt cold as she watched him struggle, this had not ended the way she had desperately hoped. There was only one last thing to do. She kissed him once last time, making him still for a moment, before, with bleary eyes, loosed one of his wrists and leapt off him.

Naruto's hand had never moved so fast as he tore off his blindfold, finally able to see. He saw nothing. She wasn't there; maybe she did disappear when he looked at her. Naruto felt cold in side until he saw an open window and felt the breeze coming through it. He did not feel it all the time she was here, meaning it was closed, she left through the window. Naruto savagely yanked the ropes off and sprang towards to the window, not caring if his naked body was shown to the world. His hands slammed against the window frame as she looked out in to the street below and saw nothing but the empty street and the dimly glowing streetlamps. His heart froze as he realized she was gone, maybe forever. He turned away from the window but stopped as his hand brushed against something. There, snagged against the ragged frame, was a single flowing strand of violet hair. Naruto gently plucked it and brought it to his nose and sniffed it. Lavender.

This was one of the few times in his life when Naruto's mind was able to se things clearly, see things that others missed or ignored. As he looked at the strand the worlds most oblivious ninja saw something that had been right in front of him the entire time. In that instant a dozen questions were answered while even more were now silently asked.

Naruto continued to stare at the hair in absolute astonishment. Only one thing came to him to even slightly express his shock at his revelation.

"Holy shit!"

That's all for now. When I post the next load of chapter(this part of the fic I wrote as one big chapter but I felt nice and devided it up) I will finish the story.

Thank you for sticking throught this. Review if you like, but I really do like hearing every one's view, even flames, they keep my toes warm. It's cold at the moment.


	6. Chapter 6

Foxbite part 6 

Hello again everyone. Well what can I say apart from I'm sorry. I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to update this story. But rejoice, This fic is now finished. I don't really know what i took me so long apart from I got a full time job, less time but more money. And my ex-girlfriend dumped me when I started this fic so that knocked it out of me for a while. I'm very pleased that I've got this done, and that you are reading it. Thank you, whether you one of the people who has been waiting for this story to be complete or if you are someone new who has come across this. I hope you enjoy the end of the story. I have some other fic in mind, while doing some more work on Half Demon Havoc. But I somehow managed to get a social life now, I might even pull some one, so I'm limited in how much i can write and when I can.

I must admit while this is a Naruto and Hinata focused story i feel in love with Iruka and Anko, especially Anko. She's so much fun to write. So brace yourself for more of the two teachers being developed more, this time more on Iruka. But I'm hoping you really like the lemon at the end, it took me a while to come up with it.

Thank you all for coming and enjoy.

I do not own these characters. BUT THEY WILL DO WHAT I WISH, ALL HAIL THE POWER OF THE INTERNET. ...woof. hehehehehehehehehehe

I just realised, when I'm scrolling through the master copy to make the chapters, I've made this fic really long. Feth

The air was cold. Not the invasive chill that could make bone shiver underneath flesh but the bracing frigidness that banished drowsiness and catalyzes the brain into action. An effective way to jumpstart the day and Iruka was going to sorely need it. The chunin stood on top of the hokage monument and, just like the stone visages of the five great leaders, surveyed the village in the light of the early morning. The grey clouds that dominated the sky that morning muted the sun's light so that the village seemed to be coloured in a worn, dull hue. But just like the slumbering inhabitants the sun would wake fully, after the clouds carried on their migration, and the whole village would become the vibrant picture of life and light that it was. The red buildings would glow, the waters would sparkle and the trees that embraced the village all around would gleam with emerald leaves. But for now the world was only starting to wind up and the village was quite. It was by no means deserted this early hour, only a fool would think that members of the ninja community were not abroad. They just kept them selves hidden, whether as part of training, some desire for solitude or possible for what ever black mission the elite Anbu would be setting out for. It was the only time those who truly dealt in the shadows had besides the night. Soon, with the coming radiance of a new day, the streets would fill and the silence would be devoured by the cacophony of village. It would be a good day to be out and about.

Iruka sighed; he was going to miss most of that, again. It was the marking period at the academy. It came straight after the Genin exams, so after getting all of the paper work and tests laid out over a few weeks, which was a tall order considering everything had to be set up perfect, the instructors were condemned to two more weeks of unrelenting hell for the teachers as they suffered the drudgery of paper work.

This meant that it was a two week holiday for the students, after their exams and who would make the most of the bright, warm weather to sow as much mischief as they could manage and it meant more paper cuts, ink stains and mental blowouts for the teachers. Both groups looked forward to the festival that acted as the unofficial end of the two weeks, for the students it was the event that topped off the holiday to the teachers it was the symbol of freedom and relief. It was often joked, like jokes told before a harsh mission, that the marking fortnight was loved by bar owners and physiatrist. One made money from the teachers stress and the other made it form helping them recover from the stress and ill effects of the first remedy.

The teacher's thoughts drifted back through the mists of memories as he recalled what he regarded as how he discovered his love for teaching and how he arrived at something so good after his life was swallowed by a miasma of misery and emptiness.

It was with the death of his parents at the horrific claws of the Kyubbi that Iruka's life took a cruel twist. He had been happily growing up with his parents, not having many friends but very satisfied with the love that his parents bestowed upon him. He was happiest when he was with them, always thinking they would be there to keep him company. But when that beast took them, like so many others on that night, Iruka felt his world swirl away into the darkness. So great was the suffering of the village at that point that no one had the time to look after another orphan. There was no to one turn to and for the first time Iruka felt completely alone. Iruka found himself lost in the cold emptiness and felt despair beckon to him with a steely smile. Iruka hated the feeling and through it down into the vaults of his mind and locked the door, determined to 'carry on' as the saying that most of the village had adopted at the time. He would put on a brave face, a happy smile and find someone to ease his suffering.

At first he tried being polite and well behaved like his parents had taught him but it did not do much to gain the attention of anyone, no matter how hard he tried. With each passing day he heard the raspy taunting voice of his loneliness grow louder as everyone passed him by, like he was a blurry reflection in a dull uncared for mirror. Iruka finished every night after his classes lying in bed staring up at the darkened ceiling; he often left the lights switched off now, as he waited for sleep to grudgingly take him. It was one bleak day in class that Iruka pulled him first prank.

He could never remember whether it was a fit of desperation, a surge of apathy or that the components for the prank just fell into place. All he knew was the glorious feeling that filled him when everyone saw him for the first time. He knew what he did was bad, not bad in fact but wrong and made a promise to himself that he would not do something like that again just to get the attention of those around him. Bedsides he would not have to now that people knew he was there.

He remained true to his promise for about a week, until people stopped knowing he was there, that he even existed. His loneliness called to him once more and Iruka's soul screamed in defiance at the mirthful coldness. Before he could completely fade away he pulled another prank, and another and another, swearing each time that it would be his last. Without realizing he had become not only the class clown but the clown of the whole academy. True, people did smile and laugh but it was always at him and he could call no one a true friend. If anyone ever wanted him it was just to get him to make a fool out of himself. The things people would ask him to do became steadily more bizarre and humiliating. But Iruka did not care at the time his life was filled with happiness and light, at least in the day time.

His nights were still filled with the same hollowness that had squatted in his house since his parent's death. Now he struggled with the shame at he had reduced himself to as well. He let his training slip as well as his studies and his home was dark, cold and covered in dust. But Iruka did not care, it was if his house was reflecting how he felt on the inside. He felt wretched about what he was becoming.

He had stopped telling the jokes and pulling the pranks and had become the joke himself, a mockery of what he once was. If he disappeared the next the day he would only be missed because most of the other students would not have something to laugh at and would soon be forgotten. He thought that this was to be his life, perform to everyone with a Cheshire grin fixed on his face and for it to crumble when he was home, in the dark.

All he wanted was to be a ninja, like both his parents, but now he was just a clown with no hope. Fortunately he was wrong. Iruka received a heart breaking wakeup call that slammed him onto the right path.

It was another dark, cold night in his house, which would be more fitting as a mausoleum to his past life, and Iruka was stood in his bathroom staring into his gloomy reflection in the unyielding mirror as a decrepit tap beat out a cold, dull beat. Iruka could only just make out his appearance in the dim light but he never focused on that. He spent hours just looking in to the blackness of the glass and let it fill him. As he gazed his memories were played out upon the onyx surface, like a terrible movie of misery and tasteless jokes. It would happen often and with each viewing Iruka would lose a little of himself, lose a little of the happy, good boy that he used to be. On that night the horror show stopped and froze of an image of his parents. He had seen them before in these visions but never like this. Most of the time he saw them how he remembered them, a loving caring pair, with great pride in their son. Sometimes, dreadful times, he saw how he believe they died. But what he saw was more horrifying that all the blood and screams in the world. His parents were looking right at him, with a feeling emanating from them that Iruka had never witnessed on their faces.

Shame.

Iruka awoke the next morning on the floor with a raw throat and hot streaks of salt down his cheeks from where the torrent of tears had flowed the night before. He pulled himself up, leaning heavily on the sink. He looked at his disheveled form once more in the mirror but he did not feel ashamed now. He felt himself fill up with the determination that he once had. He did not go to the academy that day. He stayed home and took down all the things that made him remember the pain, leaving only a few items that reminded him of the happier times, he also cleaned up after months of neglect. The last thing he did that day was visit the memorial stone of all those who died defending the village against the Kyubbi and spoke to his parents, after finally realizing dying defending something they loved was a great thing to do. They had died for the village, for the people and for him. He swore that he would become the best that he could be; he would do something, even if it was not glorious, to the best of his abilities.

He slept in his own bed again staring up at the dark ceiling but this time Iruka was not allowing his misery to gnaw upon him. He remembered how mother sang to him before he slept and how his father would standing in the door way and wish him goodnight calling him a soon to be great ninja.

With a smile Iruka flicked off a bed side light and slept well.

With his new surge of life Iruka picked up where he left off and trained even harder and spent most of his free time reading scrolls and hunting down information to improve himself. In time he found that it was easier than he thought to make friends. Within a few days of his renewed look on life Iruka had made a few friends, his best friend being Mizuki among them.

Iruka sighed as he thought of his old friend, the treacherous bastard. It had hurt him hard when the silver haired chunin revealed he was only his friend because Iruka had a connection to the Third. Iruka still could not see, even when he mediated on it, how Mizuki thought that he was being treated like he was inferior to the scared nosed boy. If only he had asked or said something Iruka would have given everything to help him. But his best friend was consumed by hatred and a lust for power.

Iruka shivered in the cold morning, he knew what it was like to be devoured by darker emotions. He was lucky enough to save himself and to have the support of those like the Third and his students over the years but Mizuki did not. While he had hurt Iruka, the chunin felt only pity for his former friend. He had enough in his life to make most people happy and yet he through it all away for a power that was toxic.

Poor bloody idiot.

As he watched his breath condense in front of him Iruka looked out over the village and idle wondered why Mizuki chose to be a teacher. It was not a very prestigious job, not in the eyes of most ninjas, and it would not have satisfied his lust for power in anyway. So what made him chose to teacher. For Iruka it was a simple answer as to why he, the former class clown, wanted to be a teacher. It was fun.

While Iruka had become an epitome of a studious pupil he still found he had the pranker's itch, except this time his pranks were more amusing and less humiliating, for himself and others. Even so when he got caught he found himself on punishment duty. When he was younger it consisted of cleaning up whatever mess he and his friends had made. As he got older he was made to help out with the instructors at the academy. When he first got this punishment Iruka quietly wretched on the inside, he remembered the 'helpers', as they were know, and how everyone made fun of their predicament. So needless to say he somewhat grumpy when he became one of the 'helpers' and spent most of his time moodily staring off into space. It was a waste of his time, he could be training, or learning new moves, or eating ramen with his friends. But he had to stand around and watch a class of pre-genin ninjas do the same stuff he had done years before.

But just like the other time before Iruka was about to have a massive turn around about how he felt his lot in life. It was during a kunai exercise, with the class divided into small groups and given a training post to hit, that Iruka, standing bored thinking about all the new kunai skills he could learn, found the joy of teaching. He was watching one student try multiple times to get his kunai grouped together. The young boy was getting more frustrated with each throw. A small smile had played across Iruka's lips, having been in the same situation so long ago, and without even thinking he opened his mouth and given the boy a piece of advice. The advice its self was nothing special. It was not advance trick with his fingers or a secret technique that was only taught to a select few but a simple move that the boy would have picked up in time. The boy listened and threw again and several more time with each strike settling in snugly next to the previous one. With a look of shear disbelief and elation the boy span round and faced the scared nose chunin and gave an enthusiastic thank you. Iruka stood there dumbstruck as the boy and his fellow students continued to throw kunai, whooping with each improving hit.

He had done that. The class clown had helped somebody, in the way that he had wished they had helped him when he was that young. It was an odd feeling but it felt good none the less. After that Iruka slowly started to get more involved in the studies of the students and soon found as, well as enjoying himself, teaching others was showing him slight flaws in techniques he thought that he knew inside and out. As he continued his now entertaining punishment Iruka found his basics steadily improving. He was getting so good at the basics that he found he was able to build upon them to improve his more advanced techniques. Strange, he had thought at the time, that he was not learning any new secret moves but he was starting to outstrip some of his friends who spent most of their time devising complex and flashy skills to use. But his steadily improving skills were nothing in comparison to the feeling he was starting to experience every day when he saw one of the students he was helping smile and cry for joy when they did a new technique right.

Iruka was as little downcast when his punishment duty was over but on his last day there the teacher who's class Iruka had been assigned to told the young man that if he wanted to he could put himself down for 'helper' duty. Iruka's cheeks had hurt for the rest of the day after smiling so hard. He thought that his reputation, both past and present, would keep him for volunteering to help out at the academy. His friends, Mizuki especially, took the piss out of him for volunteering but it did not bother Iruka that much. He was getting better and, this was the most important part, he had found that something that he could do to the best of his abilities and for the good of the village.

While he might never lead a daring life or death mission with the whole fate of the village on his shoulders or be the body guard of a foreign dignitary he was doing something just as important. He was helping ensure that the village would have many exceptional ninjas for generations to come. It was not long till Iruka was moved for a beginner class and started to work with the older students. A little more challenging but Iruka managed to get the same results for the older and more surly students. As he got older Iruka came to another pivotal moment in his life. Should he focus more on missions and the glory or should he devote all his time to teaching and the warm feeling that it gave him? He spent two whole days thinking about it until he came to a decision.

The scar nosed chunin had marched into the Third Hokage's office and informed the wise old master that he wanted to apply for a position at the academy. He was braced for anything laughter, shock, being told he would never be a teacher. But he was complete speechless when the Hokage just gave him a small smile, said ok and gave him a congratulatory hand shake and told that he was proud to have another fine teacher joining the academy.

Iruka always wondered if that was why the third had put him on helper duty, seeing that the boy was cut out for teaching. The sneaky old dog.

A provisional instructor. That was what Iruka had become the day he left the Hokage's office with shaking legs. It was just like being a helper except he now had to handle the more technical side of teaching. Marking monthly tests, writing reviews on how his lessons went, devising plans and was of teaching different classes with different age groups. He was one of six provisional instructors, much to Iruka surprise back then Mizuki was one of the others who started the same time as he did. They were watched all the time by senior members of the academy staff and were always under pressure. Two of the other joinees dropped out soon after realizing that it was not such an easy job after all. After two years of being supervised and one final exam Iruka, and the other remaining members of his group, were given their qualifications as full instructors. Now they would each have their own class and were now trusted to judge students trying out for genin and chunin exams.

Iruka had never been so happy in his life up until that point. It must have come as a shock to the other teachers when Iruka, class clown Iruka, walked into the staff room fully qualified and eager to take his first full class. It must have come as an even bigger shock to them when he welcomed the one student that they thought even he would reject.

Uzumaki Naruto.

Now Iruka had to admit to himself that he was quite apprehensive about having the young jinjuriki in his class. He had no idea how Naruto would act, if his attitude was twisted and caustic, caused by the scorn of the village or if he would be a shy withdrawn boy. So it was much to Iruka's surprise and relief on that first day when Naruto came barreling into the class, late, loudly said hello and proclaimed that he was going to be the Hokage one day. Most of the other instructors would have just saw a disruptive loud mouth and would have verbally laid into him with a second thought about being too harsh. But Iruka saw, in the boy's first smile, that he like him when he was a student. Naruto had a similar life to Iruka up to that point, maybe even worse, so Iruka had a good idea how the boy felt on the inside and his loudness was just his way of not disappearing. Iruka still had to scold Naruto for being late and disrupting the class but at least he was careful not to be too harsh.

Naruto had just given a goofy smile and an apology and took his seat. Outwardly Iruka looked sour but on the inside he was grinning as he thought that it was him going to be on the receiving end of the pranks this time round. Over the years Iruka was on the receiving end of many of Naruto's pranks, a few were even ones he had pulled years before, and after each scolding Iruka had just thought 'Yep, just like me'. So if Naruto was acting like him like he used to that also meant he was hiding a lot of misery. But fortunately for Naruto, Iruka wanted to help him.

It was after a hand to hand combat training day, due to class days were split between practical and theory, from which Naruto had been planted on his back side several times by Sasuke and others that Iruka decided to pay a visit to the blonde boy's house. While Naruto had been in high spirits and good humor every time he dusted himself off Iruka could see the frustration building in the young boys eyes. Iruka walked to Naruto's home, a somewhat rundown apartment and knocked on the door. He waited and noticed that the lights were actually on, a good sigh that he's not as bad as I was, Iruka had thought at the time. The sound of hurried foots steps preceded the door being flung open by a wrung out looking Naruto. Iruka still chuckles to this day when he thinks about Naruto's reaction that night.

Upon opening his door to his teacher Naruto instantly let lose a torrent of denials and claims of innocent for whatever mischief had caused his teacher to seek him out that night. After watching Naruto's frantic antics for a moment Iruka had chuckled to which lead to a completely dumbfounded Naruto. With a warm smile Iruka explained to Naruto that he just there to check up on him and to see if he needed any help. At that point Naruto must have been suspicious of the teacher since he only smiled nervously and claimed that everything was ok. Iruka could see that things were not as a swift glance told him that Naruto was wearing himself out from the bedraggled state of his clothes and the broken skin on his knuckles and palms. Iruka guessed that the jinjuriki was trying to improve one of the moves that was shown to him and which Sasuke had used several times to great affect against him earlier that day.

The glance also showed Iruka that Naruto was in between cleaning times, very in between, and he could smell the unique aroma of exclusively instant meals, a smell he knew too well before he learned to cook. Teacher and student exchanged looks for a moment until Iruka offered to take Naruto out to eat, which surprised them both. Iruka had only intended to inform Naruto that he was there to help him anytime that he wanted and that was it. But one look at the boy's home life catapulted Iruka back to his own dark years. Back then Iruka would have said he felt pity for the young boy but looking back on it he realized that he already cared for the boy beyond that of a teacher. Naruto looked terrified for a brief second, nobody was ever this nice, hell no body was nice to him at all. But he quickly covered up his expression of fear and hesitantly agreed. Iruka had decided that it was probably best to go somewhere public since Naruto seemed ready to bolt. The only place could have thought of was Ichirakus which had just opened, it was not the healthiest food he could think of but it was close and was at least made with real ingredients.

The walk there was a strained silent one with Iruka trying to think of something to say and Naruto looking at every shadow expecting somebody to jump out and attack him with Iruka seeming kindness being the bait.

Once they finally reached the ramen stand, Iruka ordered them a bowl each and proceeded to eat his meal slowly while watch the blonde boy out of the corner of his eye. Naruto was still not very trusting of his teacher as he just looked at the bowl before him with great suspicion. Maybe he had thought it was poisonous or had an exploding note stuck to the underside. When Naruto finally took a tentative bite his eyes widened and the chop sticks stayed firmly in his mouth. Iruka was about to ask what was wrong, just his luck to get the boy poison ramen, when Naruto exclaimed utter delight and wolfed down the rest of the bowl in a flash. Flashing his signature smile he asked for another and Iruka happily complies with a relived expression. The rest of the meal went a lot better with Naruto putting as many bowls away as he could in between asking Iruka for tips to do with the techniques that he had been doing earlier that day. Naruto had really struggled with some of the moves and even his relentless determination was not getting him far. So he had a myriad of questions for his teachers. Much to Naruto's dismay the meal had to end as the stall was about to close and the bill had to be paid. Iruka actually feel off his stool when he heard the price and Naruto internally cringed, this was the part where he got torn apart for eating too much. But Iruka only pulled himself up and smiled at the boy and happily paid for the meal. They said good night to each other and went their separate ways.

The next combat training day Naruto still lost to Sasuke but not as badly and he was starting to get the more advanced attacks and blocks. At the end of the session Iruka asked a dusty, bruised Naruto how he felt to which the young ninja in training had responded with a thumbs up and exuberant cry of "AWESOME". From then on Iruka and Naruto settled into a pattern and with the boys growing trust Iruka found that they had stopped just being teacher and student and became something in between father and son and brothers.

Iruka stopped reliving his past as he rolled his shoulders and neck, earning several satisfying clicks, and realized on that night he had actually achieved two things. He had caused Naruto to start trusting people, which allowed the jinjuriki to grow as a ninja and a person, as well as start the boy's ramen addiction. Well you can't win them all. But it was a small thing considering how Naruto had become during his time at the academy. He still pulled pranks but Iruka was pleased to see that they were only for amusement and not a veiled cry for attention, to which Iruka still had o scold and punish him for but a Naruto always greeted each punishment with a cocky smile, even when he moaned and whined. Also, even thought he fell down a lot, Naruto never gave up and always tried his best and for that Iruka was eternally grateful.

That was why he became a teacher. For that wonderful feeling that he had felt when he first decided to become one. Although he could have done with some warning about the marking period during his training. Along with the privilege and responsibility of having his own class Iruka and the others new instructors had the marking period sprung upon them in their first year. They knew about it but before they were fully qualified they could not help out in anyway. When they were qualified they thought that it would just be another part of their job. Oh how they were wrong.

Iruka could see now why some of them needed sometime on the physiatrist's couch and others did a shambling dance with the demon of drinking.

Iruka suppressed a shudder. Oh god the drinking.

Iruka remembered, very clearly, his first experience of the marking period. It was shortly after he became qualified and he was still on a high note of becoming a full instructor. He was not put off by the grim warnings of the other teachers and faced the marking with a bright smile and a joyful heart. Two days into the first week Iruka thought to himself what had he done to deserve this. He had never done anything so reparative and mind numbingly tedious. It was never good enough. That first time Iruka remembered having to redo the same form five times, all because the administrative department, who handled all the personal data regarding the village's ninjas, refused to update their forms. The result was a forest's worth of vague forms that had to fill out to an excruciatingly high stranded which the teachers did not have access to. The main reason they were not allowed to see the standards was that the administrative department had to keep the secrets of the ninja and they did so with great skill. Iruka had thought that they just liked to see the teachers crack up, maybe they had some stake in the local bars, god knows bar keeps made a killing.

With tired eyes, hand cramp and the beginning of a migraine Iruka had asked how the others coped with the stress caused by the forest of paper and seas of ink they looked at him gravely and took him to a local bar, like a condemned man being lead to the gallows.

Iruka was not a drinker, he did have a few brands that he quite liked but he liked to keep them for special occasions and on the rare times when Iruka went out to socialize he limited himself to two alcoholic drinks per night. Iruka soon got a crash course in what it would be like to be an alcoholic. When he and his fellow dispirited teachers reached their destination Iruka had expected for them to try and cheer each other up, maybe tell some vulgar jokes or friendly conversation. But no, all that happened it that they sat at the bar, staring straight ahead as they took their liquid medication. After trying to start a conversation several times and either being ignored or told to shut up, Iruka joined them in their silent depression. The chunin found that this was the worst part of the period, him and his fellow teachers could be the nicest people through out the year but come to the marking period they would turn into the surliest collection of malcontents that you could hope never to meet, and Iruka felt him self slowly becoming like them.

The dismal event started to settle into a routine over the years that Iruka resigned himself too. It would have carried on for the rest of his career or drive him to an early grave, or the madhouse, he had actually seen one old teacher have a complete nervous break down, a Kenji if he remembered correctly. Fortunately he was saved by two women.

Kurenai was the first, who he knew from his time in the academy from when they were students and further more when he began teaching. When his former students became her students they started to interact more and Iruka was glad to have someone to talk to and see how his class members were doing. Most of the academy staff regarded the teachers who lead chunin teams with distain during the period because they did not suffer like they did. Plus since the chunin exams were done on skills, smarts and character there was hardly any paper work. Just on simple pass or fail form and that was it. No fuss, no mess and no stress. Quite a few instructors tired their hardest to get promoted to jounin or special jounin status so they did not have to suffer the marking period again. Needless to say any one who went to join the jounin ranks with that idea in mind quickly washed out. Even thought the village jounin could single handily defeat a number of opponents without breaking a sweat they would receive some of the darkest looks if they walked the academy halls when the marking was being done. Conversations were also very short and strained between teachers and jounin.

But Iruka welcomed conversation with the beautiful jounin, just a break from the misery that infested the school. They talked about many things but Iruka found it incredibly good to vent about what was happening to him at the time. Kurenai just smiled, listened to his woes before finally saying that he might want to try a different bar that night, to see if a change of scene would help. Iruka thought at the time that there was something strange in the smile that Kurenai gave him, like she was hoping for something, but he decided he would take her advice and thought nothing of the unusual smile.

That night was when he met, or saw mostly, the second and most important woman who saved him. Kurenai told him to go the Drunken Shadow that night, a place which he had never been to before, and that is where he saw here.

Anko.

Iruka had know of Anko, seen her about the academy once or twice, heard from Naruto what she was like when she took his squad on a mission but he only knew of her reputation. Now Iruka paid like credence to such things as rumors and hearsay but he had to admit at the time that Anko's reputation was very colourful and that he did find it quite interesting. Not because it was filled with wild behavior and spontaneous actions that would have journalists salivating on their note pads but because he reckoned that there was more to the snake ninja than the stories. He guessed that there was something deep within her that very few would get to see. Whether it was good or bad he did not know, plus it was not his place to pry into the private life and thoughts of others, especially those who were not his students.

That all changed the night he went to the Drunken Shadow. When he first walked in Iruka thought that he would be lucky to walk out of there alive at the end of the night. It looked like the roughest bar he had ever been in, which looking back on it was a very short list, but that was how it was meant to look. The bar was designed to make people unwelcome. It was a bar for ninjas and ninjas do not like having to share an establishment with cowards and rowdies. Rowdies would quickly be put down on their backs and thrown out while cowards would have split the second they looked it. It was an effective piece of psychological intimidation. It had almost worked on Iruka when he had entered. When he had looked in and saw the many shadowy figures, most in their mission fatigues complete with weapons, Iruka had the menacing sensation that every pair of eyes, or single for those who lost one, was upon him and he gulped, something he had not done in a long time. He half turned to leave, barely a step through the door, when remembered that Kurenai came here often and had recommended the place. Kurenai was formidable ninja and no stranger to danger and pain but she would not come to a seedy dive frequently nor tell a friend to go there. Iruka remembered at that point that this was a ninja bar in a ninja village; he needed to look beyond the obvious. The chunin stepped all the way in, closed the door and went to the bar and plopped himself down on a surprisingly comfortable stool. He still felt a number of eyes upon him but he no longer felt threatened, he realized they were merely seeing what he was like and if he should be allowed to say. The barman came over to him and Iruka gulped again.

He was huge. He must have been bordering on seven feet tall and had a chest the width of a tombstone and looked just as tough. His biceps was as large as Iruka's head and his arms were long, hairy and ended in two slab like hands which sported their own thick rugs of hairs on their backs, which made Iruka think of great spiders missing a few legs.

The barman had a paunch around his middle but Iruka could not see it that much because it was all most hidden by a mass of black scraggly hair that was the man's beard. It was an immense bush of hair that the owner could have stashed several weapons in it, and knowing the bar he probably did. The barman was topped off by a large evil looking face, complete with a few scars, hard narrow eyes and a bald scalp, except for two sideburns that went from behind his ears and down into the beard. To top off the fearsome look the bar man had decided that he made a good canvas and was decorated in a manner of tattoos. Iruka thought at the time that the barman looked more like a pirate of the coast rather than a ninja of an inland village.

The rather small feeling chunin ordered a drink while wrestling with a stutter. The barman just looked at him for a second and Iruka was frightened that the man was going to grasp him in his huge hands and wring the life out of him. The barman's face split in a massive grin, showing several gold teeth, as he bellow in a deep resonating voice 'Certainly my friend.'

Iruka was shocked at the mans jovial nature as well as the way the hairy behemoth handled all manner of delicate glasses and bottle with ease and care, it was almost hypnotic the way the hairy paws moved when the barman mixed drinks. With another smile the barman gave Iruka a drink as well as another that he did not order. The barman had said that he thought he might like it and it was on the house. As the barman glided silently off down to the other end of the bar, whistling a little ditty no less, Iruka tried the new drink and found it was fantastic, sweet with a little zing at the end.

Iruka soon settled and found that he was no longer being watched, he was now another patron of the bar. It was nice to drink not to get completely hammered but to just enjoy getting slightly drunk. But what Iruka really liked was that the rest of the clientele were easy to talk to and Iruka ended up having some very interesting conversations with complete strangers. Iruka spent most of his time enjoying the music in the background and having a conversation the barman who would list to anyone's problems with an understating nod and give out small pieces of strange but useful advice. When Iruka told the man, whose name was in fact Reginald, or Reggie as he preferred, about his time of stress Reggie gave him some tips on mediation and stress relieving taijutsu, which the barman happily demonstrated smoothly behind the bar. Iruka thought he would have to come back if just to talk to the giant man, although he kept expecting the man to say 'Arhhhh matey' whenever he went to speak.

Iruka was enjoying himself, just feeling the stress of the day ebb away, when the door opened again. The entire bar stopped to see who was coming in, even Iruka, and the chunin felt the same wave of suspicion roll across the room. But this time it was a fleeting glance as the new people were obviously regulars; in fact they were some of the most renowned jounin in the village. The first was the intimidating Ibiki Morino, next was the scruffyKakashi, with his masked nose in a dirty book, after the grey haired jounin was Kurenai, who was just starting to show her pregnancy

The last to enter was the woman who would change everything for Iruka. Anko had to stop the door from closing on her as Kurenai had neglected to hold the door for her. So Anko entered by flinging the door opening and began to throw insults at the red eyed jounin. Iruka was shocked by the verbal horrors the violet haired woman was coming out with but what surprised him more was that Kurenai responded with some outlandish insults of her own. The insults went back and forth as the four jounin made their way to an empty table until half way along Anko delivered an insult that made both of the women stop and burst out laughing. Iruka overhearing this, as did half the bar, could not help snickering into his drink. It was not his way to laugh at something so wrong but Anko had just had the right voice and manner to make it funny. Before they sat down Kurenai peeled away from the group and came over to Iruka. She said hi and asked him if he liked the place. He responded with an honest yes and a grateful thank you. They talked for a few minutes and Kurenai mentioned that the four of them were already discussing the next chunin exams, which were a while away. Looking back on it Iruka remembered that Kurenai made a special point of mentioning Anko and the parts of the exam that she would be handling.

Kurenai asked Iruka if he would like to join them but the chunin was having a nice time just sitting letting the night roll by and would have hated to intrude. Kurenai looked slightly disappointed and went to join the other jounin. Iruka went back to enjoying the rest of his night although he was finding it hard to engage others in conversation because he could hear the four jounins several tables away, most specifically Anko. Once or twice he swiveled his stool round and caught glimpses of the four but his eyes, for those brief seconds, would focus mainly on Anko. He noticed things like how nice her smile looked, the fact she was astonishingly beautiful and that she had an amazing figure. Most men in bar would have noticed that too but Iruka was more taken by the woman's personality. She was amazing. Look past the vulgarity and brashness and a man would have seen a strong woman with a true heart and loyalty to her friends and the village. Iruka could see that, plus he kind of liked the brashness and vulgarity.

Iruka's contemplation was broken again when the door opened again and the suspicion rolled out again. This time several large and loud men entered. They were not ninjas but traveling workers and merchants who passed though the village. They arrogantly pushed passed others in the bar, shouted across the bar and demanded drinks and sat down at a table and continued the shouting conversation that they had been having outside. The atmosphere had changed now as the men were unaware that they were in a room with dozens of well trained and heavily armed ninjas just waiting for them to say or do the wrong thing and throw them out on their faces. A few minutes later Anko had got up to use the bathroom and her way back to her seat the largest of the workers got up and barred her path. The mood of the bar shifted for contempt to anticipation. Iruka was sure in the first seconds of Anko being held up that he saw money being placed on tables as bets were being placed. Either the man was too deep in his glass or believed he had the moves of a heart breaker because while he drunkenly came on to Anko he did not see the look on her face, the look of a woman about to crush a slime encrusted, stinking, hideously odious insect beneath her foot. Anko continued to give the idiot a flat look as the bar was now charged waiting for the inevitable outburst from the snake ninja. Escalatingly high bets were being placed as everyone continued to watch, like it was some kind of antagonistic floor show. Eventually the workman finally said the wrong thing, it still made Iruka's blood boil whenever he thought about what the man had said. It was a crude comment about Kurenai, which got him and his friends laughing like retarded hyenas. They did not laugh long.

Without some much of a warning twitch, Anko head butted the man, smashing her forehead protector against his nose, breaking it in a crunch of blood and bone, before roughly grabbing the man in knuckle white grip. Anko spun them both round once, so she now stood with her back to the main door, eight feet away, quickly turned on her heels and through the man over her shoulder. Iruka marveled at the perfect shoulder throw she executed as the man flew screaming through the air, slamming into the door, which luckily for him opened both ways, and continued his flight right out off the bar. The remaining workmen looked stunned before as one they snarled and began to get to their feet. Just as they were halfway out of their seats Anko span to face them and slammed her fist in to the table shattering it. Not splitting it, but causing the wood to explode in a blizzard of splinters that showered the belligerent men, leaving wicked cuts on any exposed skin. With a roar Anko told the men to 'GET THE FUCK OUT RIGHT NOW OR YOUR NEXT!'

The workmen could have been told all the demons of hell waited for them outside the door waiting to unleash all manners of ghastly horrors upon them and they would have gladly ran to them, nothing was more terrifying than the woman with a look of pure murder in her eyes. They fled like whipped dogs as the bar fell silent, all eyes on Anko. The snake ninja rose up on the balls of her feet and raised her head like she was gauging something before she turned to turn the bar, where most of the patrons sat, waiting. Anko gave a dazzerling smile and said 'twelve feet'.

There was a thunderous applause, with Iruka pounding his hands together, as Anko took a few mock stage bows and money changed hand to the sounds of victory and defeat. Anko called out an apology to Reggie for breaking one of his tables, again. Reginald just laughed and waved it off and gave everyone a free round. Anko turned and strolled back to her table while everyone else went back to their drinks and own business. Everyone but Iruka, he just stared ahead at the table of the jounins, at Anko.

'Oh wow.'

Now Iruka knew that he should have just turned back to his drink, maybe talk to some of the others near him about how good of a show it was, possible find out what the deal was with the bets, eventually called it a night and gone home. But he did not. Iruka just kept looking ahead, straight ahead with his eyes firmly fixed of the far wall as his mind tussled with a dilemma that Iruka had never came across before. Iruka had always been attracted, to quiet, nice looking, gentle women. The A-typical, safe girl next door type that Iruka always thought that would be the type of girl he would get to know and settle down with. So when he felt his face flush and his stomach flutter, Iruka's brain, the part that had made all the long term plans called him in for a chat. It instantly asked him what the hell he was doing having some serious thoughts, beyond just admiring a pretty face thoughts, about a woman that was loud, foul mouthed and, as she had easily displayed, incredible violent. The rest of Iruka's brain argued that while she was loud and foul mouthed that Anko was not really violent. She had not laid a figure on the man until he had said something that would have had _him_ indulging in some petty vengeance. His planning part came back that she was not the type of girl he was into. Iruka responded that he had never been as interested in one those girls as he was with Anko and that she was more than a reputation. His planning part shot back with that she probably does not even go for guys like you. Iruka fired back with that guys like him normally don't like girls like Anko. His planning brain did not have another point to make and just sat there thinking about how many life plans were at risk of being screwed up. Iruka summed up his thoughts to that conservative part of himself with one finally statement. 'She's amazing.' The planning part grudgingly agreed.

With his internal dilemma settled Iruka faced a new problem, one that all parts of his mind would work upon. How the Hell do you ask someone like Anko out?

As he mentally played out a few scenarios, Iruka found himself discreetly watching her most of the night, afterwards he berated himself for doing that. It was creepy and weird which was just not like him. Eventually, half way through his last drink, he told himself that he would stop it and just let her be another pretty, actually a down right gorgeous girl that he would never hope to be with.

But after that first night Iruka found himself constantly thinking about her and even after the marking period had long since ended he realized he had become a regular at the Drunken Shadow. Every time he went he would mentally prepare himself to say hi to her maybe even buy her a drink. The door frame of the bar door must have had a jutsu on it because every time he walked through the door his courage left him and he resumed his normal station at the bar and sat drinking his singular drink, all the while trying to resist the gnawing urge to look at Anko. He failed at this and watched her through out the nights, hoping she would not notice him. He could just not see any way a woman like Anko would be interested in him and also his behavior was bordering on obsessive. He hoped that a solution would soon present its self or he would have to commit himself to the mental ward at the hospital, his actions were tearing his mind and heart apart.

Fortunately his spying skills must have been sub-par at the time, or Anko was really good at her job, for she had noticed him and after numerous weeks of waiting had grown impatience and had come up with her own solution, a solution that Iruka would never forget. (Read Snakebite to find out .) From that night on they settled into each others lives like they had been together for years, not mere days. All worries of either of them might have had about being with the wrong type of person were quickly quashed in their first few weeks together. Iruka had been quite surprised to find out after dating Anko for six months that the patrons of the Drunken Shadow had been placing bets upon when Anko would dump him. It turned out that this was a normal bet and quite a few people would win it when Anko became single again. But this time only Kurenai and Reginald won it, betting on the two of them staying together, they both made quite a bit of cash. All this came to light when Reggie brought the pair of lovers several drinks as he told them about how grumpy a lot of the regulars were. They had both laughed but Anko did say, with a bright smile, that she would 'fuck up' anyone making that bet again. Iruka thought it was kind of sweet of her of say that.

Even though they had melded together so seamlessly Iruka had no idea of the amazement that the feelings Anko would inspire in him. She made him feel in ways that he had not felt in years; ever since his parents died he had been alone and over looked. Even after he got past his prankster phase at the academy and became truly accepted he still had no one that he could share himself with. The only thing that gave his life meaning was the work he did at the academy and watching his students grow from clumsy genin to graceful and proficient ninjas. Other than that his life was empty and dull. He silently wished he would find someone who would add a spark to his life but even after a few tentative and dismal dates Iruka was just about ready to accept a life of loneliness.

Anko did more than just add a spark; she added an incandescent bolt of lightning to his morbid love life. She made him look forward to each day, every waking moment Iruka was aware of a feeling in the background of his being that felt warm and comfortable and how much it would intensify in to a beacon of passion whenever he was with her. True they did have their disagreements and odd habits that could drive the other nuts but those things did not matter in the long run. In fact Iruka thought Anko must have been quite surprised by the look on her face when they had their first argument. It was the look of shear surprise when what they were arguing over did not degenerate into a shouting match and they were able to work it out. People did say that Anko was becoming calmer but Iruka thought in a counter point that he was becoming more assertive, especially since he laid out one of Anko's ex's on the floor a few nights back. He still felt a bit odd about that.

Plus she was life saver around this time of year; he owed a big time for helping him reduced the stress.

Iruka watched as the sun drifted higher. It was almost time to head back and get started. He was going to be so glad when the festival came around again. It would be the end of the two weeks that would always mess with his head, made him a bit flighty and odd in his own mind. Plus Anko was acting slightly different this time around. She was sort of smug, well she was always had underlying confidence but Iruka definitely had the feeling she was up to something, or had done something. About what Iruka did not know but he would ask her when he got the last of his work done.

Iruka gave his body one last shake in the brisk air as he prepared to leave until he felt another person's presence. Iruka turned to face whoever was behind him and saw Naruto. Iruka's mouth instantly spread into a smile, the caring smile he reserved for his students. But for a few of his former students him smile would go that little higher and Naruto go one of the biggest. Iruka had helped, along with many others, to grow for the clumsy, loud novice to the skill, remarkable and still loud ninja that stood before him. So proud and strong, a true Hokage in the making.

Except, Naruto did not look like most of those things at the moment, like the capable ninja he was. He seemed off somehow. His hair and clothes looked the normal vibrant hews, and he looked perfectly healthy. What was missing was Naruto's usual air of confidence and mischief. Instead he stood with his feet pointed into each other, arms hung uncomfortably at his sides, shoulders slightly slumped, head dips and eyes downcast as f he was trying to make himself as unnoticeable as possible even thought he wanted to be there. Iruka had seen this type of behavior many times over the years, even doing it himself in the past, but never had he seen it from Naruto.

His smile dipped slightly as his concern grew. Something must really be bothering Naruto, something the blonde ninja must have never come across before. Iruka waited a few moments, let the other person make the first move if they're that nervous about something, while Naruto looked too and away from his teacher while his mouth opened and closed several times. If waiting does not work take the initiative, reasoned Iruka.

"Hello Naruto. How are you?" he said. Naruto's eyes quickly locked onto his, wide and confused.

"Good, good." He said. A little too quickly for it to be true. "Erm… Iruka-sensei can I talk to you about something?" the nervousness in his voice was almost tangible, this is serious thought Iruka.

"Sure." Said Iruka, keeping his voice nice and calm to put Naruto at easy. "Let's sit down."

They walked over to a small outcropping of smooth rocks and sat side by side looking out over Konoha with Naruto slightly in front. The breeze picked up slightly, tugging at the hair of the two ninjas. Iruka waited patiently as Naruto continued to look straight ahead of him, his face troubled. He would wait until his former student was ready to tell him what it was that was torturing him so.

Naruto heaved a sigh. He had been doing that a lot lately, he had never had a problem like this in his life nor did he ever conceive something like this, even in his most ludicrous dreams. He had been thinking about this situation for a while now, trying to come up with a solution. But every time he pondered that night his mind would unravel and his thoughts would spiral out of control.

It had been days now since the night the waterfall girl came to him but Naruto had to look at a calendar to know what day it was, time was not important to him. What was important was the question about what he was going to do. He could not sleep in his bed, every time he did his body had vivid memories of what it felt like to have sex with the waterfall girl while his mind would scramble as soon as his head touched the pillow.

He had been sleeping in a chair the last few days and Naruto normally woke up in a twisted and awkward position, his back could not take much more. He was glad he had not had any missions this week as he was not in a fit condition mentally to hardly the tasks given to him. He had spent the days at home pacing up and down, stopping every fifty of so steps to stare at his bed and feel his body tingle.

It was a delicate situation to Naruto. If he confronted her what would she do? Would she run away, scream and call him a liar, strike him, kiss him?

All those scenes and more had played out in his head a multitude of times in his head. But what if she did not want him to know? She had blindfolded him, refused to tell him her name and ran away when he was free. That screamed that she did not want him to know. Although she had said that she loved him.

She loved him.

Naruto had heard the truth in her voice, felt the sincerity in her touch. She did love him and had for a long time. Naruto had huge waves of guilty and clarity rolled through him as he paced his room. He had not seen it all those years and I must have torn her up as it was tearing him up now. In a way she was braver than him, she actually did something about her feelings. Now Naruto knew what it felt like to be scared into inaction about the person he had feelings for. Another though circled around in his head; she must be going through the same thing as well.

Last night he had made a decision. He would get help; this was something that he could really use some advice on. Naruto quickly ran through the list of people in his head that he could trust with something this delicate. Sakura, one of his closest friends, was a no. She would probably hit him for something first.

Sai… too weird.

The rest of his friends would not understand, and half of them would take the piss. Tsunade would say she was busy and called him pervert like Jiraiya and the toad ninja would be a dead-end as well, he would just giggle and as for details for his books. Kakashi would do the same and give him some bad advice. What he needed was someone who knew more about the abnormal side of people but who could be trusted to keep their mouth shut, but was there anyone like that? It came to Naruto after he made a new hole in his carpet, he did know someone like that.

Anko.

Now Naruto did not know that much about her private life, but he did hear the rumors. He knew most of them were bullshit but she is worldlier than he is. But despite the famous temper he knew she was a not as bad as she seemed and really a nice person, he just would not let her know that. The only problem was how would he approach her with his problem. She was the right person to ask but he did not know her as well as someone like say Iruka-sensei. The thought hit him like a light tap of Sakura.

His first sensei.

Iruka.

There was a person he could trust with anything, any secret. Plus Iruka-sensei was going out with Anko and he would know what to do. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief and felt a little weight come off his shoulders, the problem still felt very heavy but he had a plan, sort of.

He had managed to achieve the first part, he was sat with his old sensei, with no around to overhear. Now came the second part, telling Iruka about his problem. Even as he sat, letting his courage rise and fall, Naruto looked out over the village and found himself filling slightly with a feeling of pride and peace that he found whenever he looked out from the monument. He would be Hokage one day and it would be his duty to protect the village. A Hokage was proud, kind, honorable and brave. How could he be a Hokage if he was scared of what could be the love of his life? He turned slightly to look at Iruka, who sat there with a smile, the type of smile that Naruto had seen so many times during his years at the academy. It was the one that guided him when everything was getting him down, he even saw it when Iruka scolded him when he got caught breaking the rules.

"What is it Naruto?" asked the teacher. The same calm voice that Naruto had come to depend upon. Naruto hesitated for one last second before he bit the kunai so to speak .

"Iruka sensei you've been around for a while now…"

"Cheers." Cut in Iruka with an amused snort. Some humor to make them both feel more at ease.

"I didn't mean it like that." Said Naruto now with a smile of his own. "What I meant was that you know more about the world than I do."

"Well as you said I have been around longer than you have. Is there anything in particular that you want to know?" Iruka had a few ideas about what could get Naruto this flustered but only one or two made sense since the blonde was in the village at the time.

"I need to know more about…err well love and relationships." Naruto inwardly cringed. He had never talked to anyone about things like this. Sure Jiraiya told him about love, but that was more to do with the physical nature, whether Naruto wanted to hear about it or not.

Well since there was no news of a ramen shortage it had to be a girl thought Iruka. Nothing else would get Naruto this agitated.

"Why don't you tell me what it is about love that is bothering you and I'll see if I can give you an answer about it. Love is a large subject best if I have something to go off." Again Iruka's calm tone made it a bit easier for Naruto to sort out his thoughts.

"Does it ever seem like love hardly goes like it does in the films?"

"Are you still trying to get Sakura to go out with you?" asked Iruka taking a guess about who Naruto was interested in. His attraction to Sakura was well known and she breaks away from how girls were thought to act.

"No, no" came Naruto's hasty reply. "I'm not interested in Sakura like that anymore. Were friends and that's great. What I meant was that is it possible for love that is a bit unusual to be ok. I mean with regards to what could be considered well… right?" Naruto hoped he had put that together in a way that Iruka would understand. He'd hate to get more graphic about it.

Iruka pondered his former student's question as he looked out again across the village, which was now starting to wake up probably. The ramen stall would open soon but he knew that Naruto would not like to have this conversation there.

"Well with a relationship like that, as long as no one is being harmed, they're not a problem. Me and Anko have what most people would called an unorthodox relationship. But I think those people who think that are not worth the time and often to make a big fuss about anything. If you're worried about what everyone else thinks just remember that your personal life only becomes public if you let it. Are you concerned about what others would think if they knew who you liked?"

"No not really." Answered Naruto, who was looking at the village again as he let the answer come to him. "What's bothering me is that I know that this girl kind of likes me, but she let me know in a very strange way. A way that most would think was wrong, but I don't think it was wrong." The look on Naruto's face told Iruka that he was getting close to what tormenting him, it was hard to watch.

"Naruto, you know you can tell me anything. I won't judge you neither will I tell anyone what you tell me. What happened?"

Naruto took his eye away from the village and looked Iruka in the eye. He saw the same caring teacher that he had always seen. Naruto took a deep breath and told Iruka about the night the waterfall girl had come to him, that she had knocked him out, stripped him, made love to him, without being too graphic. Iruka expression had only change slightly from his calm demeanor to one of mild surprise, which made Naruto wonder how unorthodox Iruka's relationship with Anko actually was. When Naruto hastened to the part where the girl told him that she loved him Iruka's expression became unreadable.

Naruto finished and had to gulp down several lungful of air, he was feeling lighted headed, whether it was from finally telling someone or lack of oxygen he did not care at that point in time. The only thing that occupied him mind was what his old sensei's reaction would be. He was so hoping his judgment was not wrong about this.

Iruka for the most part played what he had just been told over in his head, while adding bits of information to it that he had seen over the last few days. He had an idea of who this waterfall girl was and had a suspicion that Naruto did as well.

"Well, you right. That is unusual." Came the teachers' reply. Naruto almost swooned with relief. His old teacher was not disgusted by this. He definitely came to the right person. "Do you know who this girl is?"

Iruka's question clawed down the relief that Naruto had just found. He knew who the girl was, or had a pretty good idea. But he did not want to tell anyone, even Iruka, who she was. But he would hate to lie to the scar faced man.

"I think I do. I mean I'm pretty sure who it is but I don't know what to do." Naruto sagged once more. "I don't know how to approach this but I know that I can't just leave it. That's why I came to you. I thought that you might have some idea about what to do because you… well know more about this stuff than I do."

Iruka's eye brow quirked up at the last part but made no mention about it. "Maybe you should talk to this girl."

"I can't do that. She might deny the whole thing." Naruto half shouted. "Then again she might not. This is so confusing."

"Does she know that you know who she is?" Iruka asked keeping clam. He might just be able to solve this.

"No." Came Naruto's sullen answer.

"Then you should talk to this girl, but don't mention anything. Use that time to make sure that she is the waterfall girl."

Naruto mulled over that idea, he was a ninja and covertly getting information out of people was something he was meant to be good at. Plus he would recognize her by her smell and her gently voice.

"What should I do when I know that it is her?" asked Naruto feeling himself ready to explode as he got closer to a solution. Iruka did not say anything. Instead he looked around, making sure there was still no one else around before leaning in closer to Naruto and whispering a rapid string instructions to the blonde ninja. Naruto's eyes widened to the size of oceans as his skin turned crimson. Iruka pulled away and saw Naruto staring straight ahead with a look of disbelief. Eventually Naruto turned to face Iruka, still looking shocked, and said.

"You think that will work?"

"It's possible, as you said this is quite unusual. So an unusual solution might be what's needed."

"You don't find any of this odd?" asked Naruto quickly reassessing his belief that he knew everything about his teacher.

"A while ago I would, but you are right, love does not act like it does in the movies. Love can be very strange or seem wrong to others but it only matters to you and the person you love."

Naruto sat there and thought deeply about what he had been told. The advice was very strange but it would be a good idea to make sure he was correct about who he thought the waterfall girl was. Plus he'd be lying if he did not find the advice interesting, especially after what she had done to him. A mischievous grin splayed across Naruto's face.

"Thanks Iruka-sensei." He said. The blonde bound to his feet and sprinted off towards the village, stopping once to wave back at his old, unusual, teacher.

Iruka stood up, looking once more out across the village. He really hoped that he had given Naruto the right advice. Normally he would have never told the blonde to do anything of the sort but it was clear to him that someone had given this 'waterfall girl' a push into her actions. Now he at least knew what had made Anko so pleased with herself these last few days. He would have to 'talk' to her about it later. A lot later, he still had a desk full of paper work to do. He would head back home now, and plan for the evenings 'interrogations' as his not so better half would say.


	7. Chapter 7

Part 7

The lights were dimmed, almost turned off, with the only source of illumination in Iruka's humble home was the gentle radiance leaking out from the living room cast fourth for a multitude of glowing candles. Arranged in a circle around the ends of the warm room, the flickering flames bathed the two people in the centre, one of who was gently moaning.

"Hmmmmm. This is wrong." Breathed Anko as another wisp of pleasure escaped her lips.

"Really? Doesn't sound like it." Said Iruka with a cheeky smile, Anko could not see it but she knew it was there. Iruka moved again and caused the violet haired woman to make more of those wonderful noises.

"But… I'm supposed to be… doing this to you, oh god right there." Anko was finding it hard to speak between the gasps of air she was able to take before there were snatched from her in ecstatic moans.

"This makes me feel just as good as if you were the one in control dear." Said Iruka as he moved his body to where Anko had designated.

"Well you are very good at these." Said Anko as her back arched slightly, raising up her rear. Iruka smiled again, he had found that he was very good at backrubs.

After a full day of marking papers, checking them to make sure they matched the improvised check list he and Anko had developed, Iruka had downed his pen and breathed a sigh of relief. As he leaned back in his chair and let his body hang limp, he could not wait for the last week to finish. As he let his brain just swim in the after warmth of overstraining work he heard Anko called to him from the living room. He left the study, turning off the light with a negligent flick, and found the living room filled with candles. In the middle of the room was a rolled out futon but he did not pay much attention to that because his focus was drawn to his girlfriend. Anko was lighting the last candle and stood up.

She was wearing the old silk dressing gown that had become her favorite since the first night they made love. It was not a short gown but Iruka could tell that she was not wearing much, if anything, underneath it. He came to her and they instantly embraced and kissed. While they enjoyed the feel of each other's bodies Anko's skillful hands deftly undid Iruka's shirt and discarded it beyond the candle. She started to rub light circles into the top of his shoulders as she tried to get him to lie down. But Iruka remained standing. Instead he broke the kiss and gentle whispered in her ear that she should lie down, interspacing his words with kisses to her neck and ear. Anko shuddered against him. She told him that it was her to turn to service him and ran her hands over his chest, making to hit all the spots that made him shivered too. Iruka grinned into her neck.

They would do this sometimes. They would try to get the other to submit by stimulating all the subtle pleasure points on each other's body, the small ones that they discovered together. Their little contest satisfied Iruka latent mischievous streak while it placated Anko competitive nature. They resumed kissing as Anko's hands lightly ran up and down his sides, eliciting a short gasp as Iruka broke the kiss. Anko grinned in victory as Iruka returned the smile. He lent in and gently bit at Anko's collar bone. Anko hissed and slightly collapsed against Iruka's sleek muscular frame as her knees buckled. She heard Iruka give a chuckle. Spurred on by his assumed victory she flicked her tongue against one of his nipples as she used a hand to caress his stomach, tickling as her fingers moved around that flat surface. Iruka almost lost control at that point, his body reacting to her ministrations; he decided to use his best tricks. With a tug Iruka undid the soft belt that held Anko's modesty. With a flick he sent the length of fabric away and looked down at the opening in the gown. He was right she was practically naked underneath the dressing gown, save a pair of shorts, a well liked piece of clothing in Iruka's opinion, it was always fun taking those off. He marveled for a second at her body, the long, smooth powerful legs, the shorts that hide her woman hood, her trim and firm stomach, her generously sized breasts half covered by the opening gown like two sheets of midnight curving against her. He looked higher, past her strong shoulders and at her beautiful face, which was quirking in to a wicked smile with smoky eyes. Iruka nearly forgot about the game and was very tempted to throw himself at her. But he wanted to really enjoy this, and he knew she liked a challenge. He slipped the gown off her with a brush of his fingers, nearly overcome with desire, and attacked her neck with his mouth.

Anko subconsciously leaned her head to one side to give him better access to her supple flesh. Iruka moved his hands to her back and massaged the flesh there. Anko gently swore as she fell to her knees, gently guided down by Iruka who continued to rub the small of her back. Once they were both on the floor Anko conceded to him with a smile that seemed to say 'ah well'. She kissed him again, a gently slow one, just the way he liked them and laid down on her belly and waited him to start. As she felt his hand moved across her she silently admitted they are worst penalties for losing. Iruka was very good at this as well. And he must have been planning to do this this all day because he had started very slowly, just getting her to relax before he gently increased the force and pressure of his touch. He started with her feet and work his way up her legs. He brushed around the edge of her rump and the inside of her thighs. He was deliberately teasing her, trying to get her lust to slowly build up and it was working. He ran his hands over her rear end, still in the shorts, and moved to her back. Now he started to massage her in earnest. Squeezing and rubbing the muscles in different sections, devoting time to each group before moving onto another, coming back to one part every so often. Iruka found another sweet spot on Anko while he was rubbing her down. If he ran his thumbs up and down her spine she would raise her rear up. If he then rubbed the small of her back she would then raise her shoulders slightly. Needles to say Iruka spent a bit of time making here back rise up and down. Anko gave a small chuckle when she realized what he was doing. She rested her head on her arms and looked back at him. She saw his smile and blew him a kiss, making him chuckle once more.

Now he was rubbing her shoulders. Part wish he would keep doing this for the rest of time, it felt so good, but the other part of her was begging for him to stop. He had done his job well of getting her body slowly fired up. Even though she was lying perfectly still her body was raging with passion. She calmed herself slightly, he would not be much longer, she could feel his desire every time he lent forward, and since he was doing the top half now she was very aware how much he was turned on. She let herself be caressed as she waited. She felt a slight pull on her biceps. She had been resting her head on crossed arms but now let her head rest against the pillow as Iruka rubbed her arms. She closed her eye as she thought that he must be finished soon. He was running out of things to rub so he must be getting to her main pleasure spots. Anko contemplated who was going to be in control. They had been taking it slow tonight so it was not likely to be a mutual hot and heavy session where they both just went at each other. This was going to be a slow sensual night. Anko never thought about them before buy now she liked them a lot. There was this one…_click-click_… what the hell was that? The clicks were the sound of her wrists being secured into a pair handcuffs. What was Iruka planning? Why did he go through all this pretext of rubbing her arms just to get her cuffed? He just had to ask her to wear them, like she had done before. Anko was just about to ask what he was doing, fully planning to one of her saucy smiles, when Iruka got off her and flipped her over. Iruka position himself between her legs, using his body to keep them apart. Anko was really starting to shake with anticipation now. This was going to be good. She bit her lip as she wait for him to rip her shorts off. He did not move. Ok then maybe he was going to run his tongue along her legs, she loved that. His mouth stayed shut. He would probably lean in close and whisper naughty things while he used his hands on her body.

He did not move an inch. She looked him in the eye and saw something that she did not see often and not directed at her. Iruka looked pissed. Why is he like that she thought? What had I've done that could make him angry. The only thing I had done was… oh-

"You interfered"

-Shit!

"You promised that you would not interfere." Iruka said, sounding more disappointed than angry. Ok, thought Anko, maybe I can work with this without ending up deeper in the shit.

"Interfered with what?" asked Anko sounding confused. Iruka made a sound like _humph_ and ran his thumbs along the insides of her knees. Anko jerked at the unexpected assault on her senses. "I-I-I don't know what you c-could possible mean d-d-d-dear!" Anko gasped as each stroke sent minding swaying tingles up her legs towards her womanhood.

Iruka found it hard not to smile at his roughish girlfriend's temporary speech impediment but it would break the disgruntled visage he was using and would give Anko an advantage in what was about to come.

Anko was a curious woman when she was morally cornered about the truth. While it was a given that lies and secrecy would be a big part of her life due to her career she never like to lie to her boyfriend. But Iruka found that she would try and weasel her way out of small misdeeds even when she knew she was caught doing something that might irk him, say eating the last cookie he was saving or if she had been wearing some of his clothes to quickly go out, she sometime just grabbed any suitable looking garment if she was in a rush, and would find mystery stains on them that he never knew he had, mainly sake and dango crumbs, usually after they had just been washed. When faced with a miffed Iruka, Anko would quickly resort to seductive methods coupled with a placative whine as she tried to dodge any anger coming her way. It never bothered Iruka when she did it. In fact he quite liked it; she was downright cute when she is caught with her hand in the cookie jar, both figuratively and literally. Plus the situations that would bring about Anko's more kittenish nature were trivial and not worth worrying about, in fact it had gotten to a point where Iruka would only pretend to be upset so they could both enjoy it.

But this situation was no small matter of an embarrassing stain or mess house. This was something very important to Iruka and he could not risk Anko using her sensual skills against him, not yet anyway. So while filling out forms, which he could do now without paying much attention to them since he had done it many times before, Iruka had decided to confirm some suspicions. Well, he we certain that Anko had a hand in the changes of behavior of his former students but he wanted to know what she did and, more importantly, why. They had been together for a long time now and he knew most of her weakness but she knew his.

While giving his hand a rest, to ease the perpetual cramping in his wrist, he decided that he needed to restrain her before he could question her. Iruka grinned at the irony. Just like the first night they became one, one of them was going to be 'interrogated' except that it would be Iruka asking the questions. Anko would be a hard suspect to crack but Iruka was confident that he could _coax_ the answers he wanted out of her.

He had achieved step one, restrain Anko, and was well underway with step two. But he was finding it hard to maintain his disgruntled visage, mainly because he did not want to upset her but she also looked so alluring right now. Her glorious body laid out before him, with her possessing no way of stopping him from doing anything he wanted. Plus the smoky looking in her fast glazing eyes was driving him wild. He had better get back on track.

Iruka gave a firm rub to the insides of Anko's knees before speaking.

"You know full well what I'm talking about." He said coolly as he moved his hands to her thighs. Iruka knew that if he ran his fingers spread out down her thigh softly followed by a strong rub of his thumbs he would inflame her body so much that she would be unable to think straight. Sure enough as his hands glided and kneaded back and forth Anko started to raise her hips towards him as her head lolled backwards.

"H-h-honestly I do-o-on't" She said in a gasping breath. She was still holding out thought Iruka. Luckily he had only gotten started. He started to lightly use his nails now on her legs, leaving faint lines on the now flushed flesh. Anko's toes curled upon the futon, pulling and wrinkling the fabric as she felt the searing lines roll along her legs.

"You interfered with Naruto and Hinata." Iruka now moved his hands closed to Anko's most sensitive spot. The snake ninja gave a shudder of anticipation, hoping that he would not torment her so sweetly for much longer.

"Naruto had an interesting visitor a few nights ago, very interesting." He said levelly. Iruka stopped his fingers at the top of Anko's legs, on the smooth, sensitive skin and caressed small circles into it. He saw Anko bite her lip in frustration. He knew his love liked the soft, teasing touch but there were times when she wanted it hot and heavy. It would not take much more to get her to spill.

"Naruto did not tell me who it was. But I know he knows it was Hinata that came to him. But she was not acting like she normally would." Iruka leaned in, his body looming over Anko but his hands stayed put. Between the waves of smoky pleasure that obscured her view Anko marveled at his lean frame, covered in sweat as if he has just done laps around the village. But she knew that was nothing compared to how much she was perspiring now. She was well and truly caught. "She was acting like someone else." Iruka said barely above a whisper. "Someone I know very well." Iruka, with his hands firmly pressed against Anko's boiling body, moved his hands over the now damp shorts and onto her firm abdomen, but he made sure that his thumbs gave the barest brush against the sides of Anko's nether region.

The bound woman gave a moan. Half pleasure half frustration at that incredible, tantalizing touch. She felt herself almost go over the edge but he was deigning her that and now his fingers were dancing over her belly.

"You know something about that don't you dear." Said Iruka. He allowed himself a small smile. He was really getting into this; his desire for her was almost painful as his erection strained against his trousers. He raked his nails down her toned belly, but only enough for her to just feel it. She was squirming now, trying her best to feel more of him but still stubbornly biting her lip, Anko hated to lose games like this but she knew that she could not put together a story that would get her out of this right now. Hell she was not sure if she could put a sentence together now or even if she wanted to escape the situation she was in.

Iruka's deft hands moved up towards her torso and her breast. She had felt his masterful hands upon them many times and it always felt wonderful but at that point she had never wanted to feel his pleasuring touch more than ever. Unfortunately his hands skittered around the edges of her ample chest, further building her passion but in no way granting her the ecstasy she craved. God damn it he was good.

Iruka was now smiling, the same smile Anko wore when she had the advantage in games like this. He could she now why she always looked so amused. Several times she tried to use her legs to pull him onto her but the way he had position his body made it hard for her to wrap him in her sculpted limbs. Every time she tried he would just use his hands to send another lingering jolt of pleasure through her. She was still trying to resist answering, time to finish this.

Iruka, still keeping his body from touching hers, hovered an inch above her, his face above hers and looking deep into her eyes.

"Tell me." He whispered. He moved himself down a little and his penis brushed against her woman hood. Despite the clothing that separated them, Anko let out a horse moan. It felt so good but it wasn't enough. FUCK IT ALL.

"Alright I interfered." She almost screamed her confession. "But I didn't break my promise." Iruka quirked an eyebrow. "I promised not to tell Naruto. So I gave Hinata some advice. That's all, it was her choice to use it or not." Anko chest was heaving. It was heaving from her boyfriends touch but now it was also heaving form the explosion of breath she had used to unburned herself of something that had been bugging her for a while. True she felt smug about what she had influenced but this situation was one of the things that also been making her second guess her actions. Her body was still on edge but the unreadable expression on Iruka's face threatened to chill her to the core.

"Why?" he simply asked.

"Because they belong together. I've never seen two people who deserved each other so much but were so useless at getting it together. If I hadn't have gave Hinata that advice Naruto could have gone off with someone else, he got his own fan club now." She stopped to take a breath. "Look I know what I did was possible wrong and I'm…" Anko was cut off by Iruka collapsing his body against her. At once his erection pressed firmly against her womanhood as one hand firmly clasped one of her breasts while the other slide underneath her head to support it as Iruka pressed his lips against hers. Anko was only vaguely aware of his tongue entering her mouth as the sensation of finally having his body against her gave her the orgasm she had been craving since he had handcuffed her. Iruka kept him body pressed down on her as Anko ground and rocked her quaking body into him. She moaned into his mouth as her legs finally wrapped around him, pulling him even closer, as she felt the pleasure bloom throughout her body. Anko was not sure how long she bucked underneath her boyfriend or how many times she climaxed but she was certain her skin had never felt so hot before. It was incredible how she felt, the pure relief and elation after all that frustration. It felt like a hurricane of hot desert wind has blissfully blown within her and calmed to the soothing warmth of the beach.

Anko relaxed and sighed contently. Her legs loosened their iron grip and flopped down on to the futon as smalls spurts of bliss passed through her. Iruka broke the kissed and raised himself up slightly, propping himself up on his elbows. Anko's eyes were bleary from the post orgasm sensation and her vision swam, slowly bring into focused the face of her lover, with the tender smile that she loved so much. At this sight Anko felt any guilt or worry about what she had done leave her, she had her Iruka and that was all that mattered. But still she had to ask.

"You're not angry?" She was not sure if it was a real question or not but before the kiss she was half convinced that she had messed up the best thing that had happened to her in a long time.

"No." Iruka replied softly.

"Why?" she asked between heavy breaths.

"Because I love you." He said sweetly as he stroked some of her hair, which was sticking to her sweat laden skin, away from her face and leaned in for a soft kiss. They stayed like that, feeling the others heart beat until Iruka broke the gentle kiss.

"I love you too." Said Anko, she felt the internal heat wave subside and her breath slowed, it had just been some of the most intense minutes of her life. "So what was with the hand cuffs then and the impression of Ibiki?"

"Well the hand cuffs are so you couldn't get free, I really wanted to keep your attention, and the stern face was well… if I gave you any idea that I wasn't really that cross you would have used that against me." Said Iruka, sounding a little guilty.

"So were you angry at all?" Anko asked quizzically.

"Miffed at most." Iruka replied simply, looking off to the side of the room, he might have over done it.

Miffed.

Anko smiled at that. She could have screwed up the lives of two people that he had cared for like they were family and he was only miffed? Anko chuckled. She had never met anyone that was so hard to rile up. If she did not know that Iruka always looked at both sides of a situation she might have thought him as being spineless when it came to her.

Iruka smiled again. If she was laughing she was ok.

"So you cuff me?" asked Anko after she stopped giggling

"Yep."

"Pretend to be more than 'miffed'." She was looking at him with mischievous eyes

"Yep"

"And assault my body with your strong, gentle hands? To keep me off balance?" Anko was now talking with a husky voice, and was starting to move her hips underneath Iruka. He let out a ragged breath. She is beginning to turn the tables he thought.

"You take me to the peak of bliss and hold me there just to get information out of me." She licked her lips.

Oh damn she looked good. Iruka knew what she was doing. This is what he had been trying to avoid while 'interrogating' her. She was enticing him, even thought she was still bound beneath him. He always found it hard to resist. Well he had he now knew what she had told Hinata, so there was no problem with letting himself give in. He closed his eyes and leant in again, savoring the moments before he touched his lips against hers again.

He felt something warm and wet slide up from his chin to his brow, something that left a wet trail across his face, covering one eye. Iruka grimaced as he pulled back slightly and opened his other eye. Anko's long snake like tongue quickly retreated back into her mouth.

"You could have just asked me." She said barely holding back another spurt of giggles. Iruka wipes the slobber off his face with the back off his hand before giving Anko a smile that scoffed at that statement.

"Like last week with the last packet of cookies?"

"Look, I have no idea who ate them. We live in a ninja village, lots of sneaky people live here. I bet it was…" Anko stopped when she saw Iruka's look of mocking disbelief. "Oh ok, you got me there." She grudgingly conceded.

"I know. That's why I like these cuffs." Said Iruka, sounding very amused with himself.

"You're going to let me go yet?"

"no." said Iruka.

"Why not?"

"I'm not done having fun yet." Iruka sat back and placed his hands just below Anko's bosom. The snake ninja looked hungrily at him and started to grind her hips towards him again.

"What do you have in mind?" she said silkily "If it's as good as last time I'll… don't you dare." She said in horror. She noticed that Iruka had his hands on her ribs, where she was very ticklish. Iruka grinned cheekily as his fingers danced across her ribs. Anko thrashed and kicked her legs as she tried in vain to get away. Her laughter filled the room, with Iruka's accompanying it. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes as she begged him to stop in between the guffaws. Iruka tormented her a few moments longer before threading his hands underneath her and pulling her up onto his lap, her legs either side of him, with Anko sat higher up, breathlessly looking down at his loving face.

Anko calmed down for the second time that night.

"I'll get you for that." She said playfully and stole a quick kiss.

"I know." Said Iruka. "So I'd best make the most of this." Iruka moved his hands so that they joined hers behind her back, an unusual but sweet way of holding hands.

"Hate you." Anko said playfully.

"But you love me too. So that doesn't matter." Their lips touched again for another brief kiss before Anko spoke again.

"So, do you think those two will be ok?" she was concerned now. She had hoped that her advice would get Hinata over her shyness barrier and then she would be able to tell Naruto just how she felt. But the news that she had gone to Naruto but left made her worry that she had completely ballsed up their potential relationship. She hoped that Iruka had an answer for her; otherwise this would be a lot of shit to clear up.

"Yes I do."

"Really?" that surprised Anko. Iruka sounded so sure and confident about his answer.

"Yes. I could tell by the way that Naruto was acting that he was not upset about what Hinata had done to him. I think he quite liked it. But he was confused at what to do. I think he has liked Hinata for a while now but never thought they could have something together more than friend ship. But your advice opened up a whole new set of possibilities."

"And here I thought that you never pried that much into their lives." Anko cut in with a smirk.

"Well Kurenai and I do discus what we've seen going on between them a lot. We've even been tempted to set them up together. But every time we thought it would be a better idea for them to work it out for themselves."

"But that wasn't going anywhere fast. Was it?"

"It might have." Said Iruka, taking a few moments to kiss Anko's neck and shoulders, enticing a sigh from the woman above him. "But now we've set the ball rolling on their relationship."

"We? What do you mean?" Anko brought her full attention onto that fact, which was difficult considering that she was sat almost naked upon her boyfriend with her hands bound."

Iruka looked a little sheepish as he gave her a reply.

"I gave some advice to Naruto as well." A look of triumph spread across Anko's face.

"Doesn't that count as interfering?" she asked looking smug.

"No, it only counts as giving advice. It's up to him to take it." Said Iruka giving Anko a conspiratorial smile.

"Hypocrite." Anko said as she kissed him. Now she knew everything should be ok she was feeling a little competitive again. As they kissed she forced her tongue into Iruka's mouth. Iruka groaned a the feeling and groaned even more when she used her snake like abilities to push her tongue even deeper. Anko had done it many times before but it always caught Iruka by surprise and made his eyes roll. Anko broke the kiss, withdrew her serpent like tongue and grinned victoriously at Iruka's flushed face,

"So tell me. What advice did you give to Naruto?" she asked. She wanted to know what her boyfriends mind had conceived. Iruka was about to tell her before he had an idea. He quickly moved his arms to pick up Anko and swiftly stood up. Anko gave a whoop of surprise.

"What are you doing?" she was now held bridal style in Iruka's strong arms. Iruka looked at her mischievously

"I've got one better than telling you. I'll give you a demonstration." With that he carried his love to the bed room and gave her all the information she wanted. Anko's last coherent thought that night was that Hinata was in for one hell of a good time.


	8. Chapter 8

Part 8

The day after Iruka's 'integration' session one of the subjects of the discussion was sitting on a bench, one of the ones that sat randomly in the streets of Konoha, feeling very conflicted. Hinata, the heir to one of the most illustrious clans in the fire country, sat sprawled out on her carved wooden seat. She sat like she had just died. Her head lolled back looking blankly at the clear sky; arms slumped and loosely resting on the bench, legs limp, stuck out at awkward angles. Not the most dignified position for one of Hinata's standing. She should always hold herself with an air of pride and command, which was what she had been taught from she was young. But she had never cared much for doing and impression of a stern statute, life was much more that showing how superior you were to everyone else. It was stupid and very backwards way of thinking. She was glad that her father had started to make changes in the way the clan was run. It was a slow process, a lot of resistance from the older members of the clan, but the changes were happening. The clan would remain strong, a bastion for the ideals of the warriors of the leaf village but also the mercy and humility that the clan had ignored for many decades.

But even thought it was one of many things that Hinata often thought about nothing could be further from her mind, along with everything else. The only thing she had been thinking of had reduced her to the state that she was in now, burnt-out.

She had no idea what she was going to do after her night with Naruto. When she decided to run away afterwards she had inadvertently back herself into a corner. If she had stayed and had the courage to let him know it was her who he had just made love with, they could both be sat on the bench right now holding hands talking about anything or sat in silence, just enjoying being together. But now she was still alone and poor Naruto was more than likely confused out of his mind trying to work out whom his 'water fall girl' was. She felt a stab of guilt ever time she saw him. He was not taking care of himself, his clothes were getting very scruffy and his faces showed the effects of sleepless nights.

Hinata groaned in frustration and brought one hand up to cover her eyes. How could she have been so stupid? She loved Naruto, she had finally told him, but now she was certain that she had made it impossible for Naruto to return that love. He had suffered so much in his life, much more that people twice his age, and yet he still kept smiling. But Hinata knew that Naruto hated it when he was deceived and betrayed by people, especially his friends. When Sasuke had left to train with Orochimaru, to become stronger enough to kill his brother, Naruto had been devastated. While he had decided that he would bring Sasuke back, to save him, he had been angry at his friend as well. Naruto had put that anger behind him because he now saw Sasuke as being blinded by his hatred and sadness, feeling that Naruto had some understanding of, and had somewhat forgiven his renegade friend for some of the things he had done but not all of them.

But what Hinata had done had nothing to do with an all consuming quest for vengeance. What she had done had to do with an obsession. While she loved Naruto she always knew that others would see it as insane behavior. She remembered the days when she used to follow him in secret, watching him, adoring him. That all seemed so innocent to what she had now done. She had taken Naruto to his most vulnerable, showed him something he had been wanting for so long and, right when she should have let him know that she was willing to be everything to him, she ran away.

The whole situation that she had gotten herself into reminded her of her favorite story that her mother used to tell het at bed time. It was a story of warrior coming home, but on the way finds a beautiful maiden. They fall in love but the woman is in fact a sprite, a mystical being that can only exist in the human world for a few weeks. In the ends she has to leave and tries to find the warrior before she vanishes back to her realm but cannot find him. She fades away just as he reaches where they first met. The warrior is heartbroken and forever stands watch over the place that they first met, waiting for her. While it was a bitter sweet story Hinata loved it. Every night after she had cajoled her mother to tell it again she would stay awake thinking up different ways for the story to continue, with happier endings.

But this was no fantasy story. Like the sprite, she had disappeared off into the dark, leaving Naruto alone and without an answer why. Will he spend the rest of his life waiting for the waterfall girl, stand by his window looking out into the cold night? Every time Hinata thought about this her heart would lurch painfully, almost like it was about to stop, and she would clutch her arms around her stomach, in a vain attempt to stop the horrid empty feeling. This was not some bed time story. There was no rule that said that they could not be together, even the clan did not have such a rule.

She was just so terrified about what Naruto's reaction would be. At first it had started out a visage of Naruto being upset, maybe a little cross, with it possible with her comforting him and going from there. But the more she thought about what she had done the more furious her mind made Naruto. She knew that the scenarios we ludicrous but they were potentially possible. Before all this she, along with the others, had been getting to know Naruto and she could guess what his reactions to situations would be, normally to get ramen.

Hinata let out a frustrated groan and dropped her head from her face, to hang limp at her side again. She had possibly messed up Naruto for the rest of his life or, if she told him, destroyed a friendship that had been steadily building up.

To tell or not to tell, that was the question.

It had been keeping her up all night, trying to think about a happy end to the story but being unable to mentally write one. It would all end in tragedy.

Hinata rubs her eyes, the bags forming under eyes to be more exact. The conundrum of what to do had been keeping her up at night with a mind full of cold heavy doubt. The seconded the searing heat that her body would rocket up to whenever she now thought about Naruto. Every time she saw his image in her mind she would feel her loins start to stir and her skin goose bump at the memory of how his hand had touched her. Her mouth almost watered when she recalled what it was like to kiss him. What bothered her most was the way her eyes would mist over when she saw him, in her mind's eye, beneath her, tied to the bed, as his faced showed how lost to his body he had become when they had made love.

Her body screamed for him again and again but her mind told her not to give in. the voice of desire that had awoken now whispered that if she never told Naruto that she could still be with him. She would just have to visit him the night again and repeat what she did the last time. Do it every so often and she would quell the fire.

NO!

Her still rational mind would scream that objection. That would be torture to Naruto. To use him like that would be truly unforgivable. But her body still burned and her mind was still slowly being crushed under the guilt. Each day for her was now a battle of wills within herself. She was so tempted to give in. but that would make her no better than an addict, she knew that she would have to get a fix whenever she felt the itch. She knew she would become a junkie, and that thought made her feel so filthy.

The hand that had been rubbing her eyes stopped and covered them. To anyone looking at her it would look like she was blocking the sunlight as she faced the clear blue sky. But she was hiding the tears that were forming beneath her lids. Hinata did not know if they were from sadness or frustration, all she knew what that they had been coming for days now.

All she wanted was to be with Naruto. To be lovers without a care in the world, to hear him say…

"HINATA."

The violet haired girl yelped and jumped up in the air at the jovial cry. If the sudden surge of adrenalin had not just flooded her body Hinata would have thought that she had somehow fallen asleep on the bench because she could barley believe what she saw. Naruto was sat down next to her, beaming at her as she settled down again. He rubbed the back of his head.

"Hehe, sorry. Didn't mean to make you jump." Hinata just looked at him in stunned silence. He looked how he normally did. His clothes were a little messy but a far cry from the rumpled rags he had let them become the last few days. His eyes were their normal vibrant hue, not the dulled stones they had been. Most importantly, to Hinata at least, his smile was honest and true, not the imitation he had painfully stretched across his face. Hinata felt her heart start to flutter.

"Hinata are you ok?" said Naruto as he leaned in curiously. Hinata felt her face flush slightly as his eyes looked into hers, deep blue gazing into pale lavender. Her breath hitched in her throat. He was so close, she could just moved forward and kiss him, take him in her arms and pull him close, feel his body once again…

Hinata dug her nails into her legs; this was no time to lose herself to her desire again, mainly because she knew she would act out what her mind just played for her. She realized that she was just staring at Naruto.

"Yes, I'm fine Naruto-kun. Just a little tired." She knew at this distance that she looked worse for wear. It was only through a life of routine training that Hinata had been washing regularly and changing her clothes. But the bags underneath her eyes looked like smears of soot, especially against her pale skin.

"Something been keeping you up at night?" asked a concerned Naruto. Hinata just nodded. Naruto rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I know that feeling myself," Hinata winced at that, "but I found that having a full stomach helps a lot and Ichirakus does the best ramen that'll help you sleep." Hinata brought a hand to cover her mouth as she giggled. She would not be surprised if Naruto believed that Ichirakus' ramen could raise the dead, or at least bring him back. The blonde was taken aback slightly by the sudden change in Hinata's demeanor, before joining her in laughter.

Hinata felt some the dull weight lift from her mind. It felt so good to laugh again.

"Yes, that would help." She said once they had stopped.

"Great." Said Naruto. "Let's go then." He took Hinata's hand in his and led her towards Ichirakus, at a less frantic pace than he normally took when on the prowl for his beloved noodles. As they left the isolated area neither of them noticed that they did not discuss about going to Ichirakus right there and then, they both did what felt right.

Even at what Naruto would have normally regarded as an agonizingly slow pace the two young ninjas were sat down at the ramen stand soon after they had left. They both orders their bowls for the smiling owner Teuchi, Naruto only ordering one bowl, which the old man though was strange, but said nothing. They sat in silence, just enjoying their meals. Hinata felt the warm broth fill her stomach and felt immediately better. Her meals over the last few days had consisted of plain snacks that she had been eating to stop herself from collapsing from hunger.

"So what's been keeping you up Hinata?" Naruto asked easily. Hinata rested her chopsticks against her bowl. It was quite surprising how Naruto had gone back to his normal relaxed states after what she had seen.

"Well…" how to explain it without giving anything away? " I've got a secret that I've been keeping form a friend. Mostly because I don't know how they'll react."

"What kind of secret is it?" asked Naruto, placing his chopsticks down as well.

"The kind that could be either good or bad." Replied Hinata. Her voice had dropped down to the old whisper that had been her tone throughout her young life. "It's the fear of them hating me that is stopping form telling them. But if I don't tell them they might be suffering." Hinata looked down at her half empty bowl, as if it might contained the answer to what she should do.

"Sounds a bit like what's been keeping me up as well." Hinata looked up and saw Naruto rubbing his chin again in though. She half hoped that he would piece together the parts of her confession and work it out, just so it would be over. "It was bugging me for a while." Naruto continued. "I didn't know what to do either. So I asked Iruka-sensei for some advice." He turned and fixed Hinata with his dazzerling eyes and bright smile. "Is there anyone you can ask for advice?"

Hinata was caught off guard by that. Was there anyone she could ask for help? Her team mates were not a real option as well anyone from her family, her father's reaction would be terrible along with Neji's, and they would both most likely kill Naruto. She could as Kurenai-sensei; she could count on her for sound advice but the question would be too strange to ask her. The only option that sprang up was Anko. She would know what Hinata was talking about only the advice that she would give would probably reduce her to a quivering mess. There was only one other person she trusted to give her an honest answer while not reviling her dilemma to anyone else. Hinata just need to call upon a little of the courage that she possessed.

"What do you think I should do Naruto-kun ?"

"Me?" asked Naruto, eye's blinking in surprise. Hinata gave a small nod of confirmation. Naruto rubbed his chin then rubbed the back of his head and alternated between the two. This carried on for a few minutes till eventually he spoke.

"I think the best thing you can do is tell this person the secret you're holding. I mean it's the only way you'll know what they are going to say, and if it's as big a secret as you say it is, you'd be best off telling it when there's only you and the other person around."

Simple and honest, just like Naruto. Hinata quietly pondered the suggestion and Naruto. Maybe she had been getting worked up about nothing, over a possible rage that Naruto was not capable towards his friends. Hinata scolded herself, she had been so stupid.

"I think I'll do that." She said "thank you Naruto."

"No problem, anything to help a friend." He smiled again, the infectious way that only he could do. Hinata smiled as well, her cheeks felt odd to assume the happy shape after so long of slouching. It felt good to feel that again. They continued with their meal and with each bite Hinata felt more of the lead heavy weight slide from her shoulders, although she was sure that it had little to do with the noodles. The only thing left with in her now that dragged her attention away from the there and now was the tremor in her heart. But it was not the shake of fear and panic that occupied it. It was a warm sensation that soothed her soul. She had a chance now, now she just needed the right time and location. Hinata glanced at Naruto, something she had gotten skilled at without being noticed, as he wolfed down his bowl. Part of her screamed to do it now but she knew this was not the time or the place. She had no idea what to say, she would have to think about it, rehearse how to confess to Naruto. Rather than wait for and opportunity, she thought, she might as well make one.

"Erm… Naruto-kun? Are you free tomorrow?" Hinata managed to ask without stuttering but the quivering tone and crept back into her voice.

"Sure. Why?" He asked as he slurped up a noodle.

"I was wondering if you could help me with my techniques. I've only been training with Neji so far and Kurenai-sensei says I should practice them with others."

"Of course. That would be awesome!" replied a jubilant Naruto.

"Thank you Naruto-kun." Hinata let out a tiny sigh. That was how to get him alone and she would think about what to say tonight, she was defiantly not going to get any sleep.

"Hey Hinata can I ask you something?" Hinata looked quizzically at Naruto.

"Sure, what do you want to know?" She said, riding upon the waves of relief.

"well I was wondering about the juyken." He replied brightly.

To Hinata's credit the only outward sigh of her distress were her fingers pressing down upon the counter top till her knuckles were white. Inside, however, the wave of relief had crashed into a rock face of panic. He wanted to know about the Juyken? This was not good.

While the basics of the juyken were well know, a prestigious clan like hers could hardly go unnoticed, the actual training and skills need to use the deverstaing style were a jealously kept secret. Even her own team mates did not know how the style worked exactly. It was true that the Byakugan was important but it was only one part of the clan martial art and the council took it very seriously. Anytime that it seemed that someone outside the clan was developing a similar style the council would dispatch their top operatives, often without consulting the Hokage, to observe and report about the imitation. If it looked like the subject was merely creating a cheap knock off they were lucky, if they were seen to be using the secret methods of the huygaa they would be captured and brought to the council for questioning, to which it was in their best interest to answer all the questions , less they wished to feel a true demonstration of the juyken.

Hinata hoped that Naruto would not ask anything too probing about the style; otherwise she would have to lie to him, which she had never done, even when she had tied him up that night, but also she would have to report it back to the clan.

"how do you know how much chakra to put in a strike? I mean I have over done it sometimes with my strikes, especially the Rasengan when I was learning it, but you always know how much to put into you hits without blasting someone's arm off. I was just wondering how you did it." He finished by looking towards her expectedly.

The rock face of panic crumbled away. That was ok to ask. It was just basic control, every ninja learnt it, the huygaa just perfected it.

"well we learn chakra control from a very early age, even before we enter the academy."

"how?" he asked paying more attention to her than he had ever done to a teacher in a lesson."

"aside from a few games designed to make children practice chakra flow we are taught to meditate so that we can work out what our chakra feels like. I've always seen mine like water, it can either trickle or it can surge."

"then what do you do once you've worked out how your chakra feels?"

" we practice opening and closing chakra points and paths on ourselves."

To Hinata's surprise Naruto winced at that.

"ouch. I remember how it felt when Neji nailed me during the Chunin exams, it was almost as bad as hearing Ero-sennin sing."

"jariaya-sama sings?" asked a confused Hinata.

"more like screeches down a mike when he's drunk at a bar. But it still must have been rough as a kid to have to do that to yourself." Naruto shook his arms "my arms stings at the memory of it."

Hinata had to giggle, it was just too funny. Naruto looked perplexed.

"We don't use full power when we practice." She explained. "we only use a small portion of power to experiment with, to get to know how it feels to open up the points."

"What does it feel like then?"

"It actually feels quite nice, most members still use the basics as a form of stress relief. My father often uses it on his temples after a long meeting with e council."

Naruto chuckled at the thought of the uptight Hishasi getting stressed out by a bunch of old men.

"I thought it would be more complex than that." He said getting back on the subject of his interest. "it sounds a lot like the basics at the academy except you go more into it."

"Yes that's just the basics but it's in the advanced skills that each user begins to make the style their own. While the basic style is the same no two users are.

"You mean like the attack you used against that massive wasp? That was an awesome move."

"Yes." She answered, flushing at the compliment but also at the memory of being caught by Naruto when she had been dancing naked on the water. She was just glad that the moon made her a silhouette that night, mostly that is.

The next few minutes were spent talking about techniques and what they planned to do the next day, Hinata finding it hard to split her mind between thinking about what to show and what she wanted to say to Naruto while they trained. While she was explaining more about her skills to blind the juyken Naruto stopped and threaded a hand into her hair. Hinata frozen in her seat. It was completely unexpected, but it felt so good. It felt almost as good as the night they had sex and it was sending her mind into an overload. Naruto pulled his hand back from a wide eyed Hinata holding a small green leaf. They both looked at the leaf until Naruto gingerly offered it to her.

"Heh… you had this in your hair." He said feeling rather foolish.

"Thank you." She said. She took the leaf off him with shaking hands. An awkward silence hung over the two of them, neither knowing how to get back to the previous conversation. And icebreaker came in the form of a belligerent wasp, that buzzed furiously over Naruto's ramen. Not one to be separated from his beloved noodles, the blonde ninja defended his meal from its winged invaded by swatting at it with a menu. Naruto whooped with success as the hazard stripped insect flew away, only to come back again, with its venom infused stinger aimed at his nose. Naruto yelped as he frantically swiped at the wasp as it made its attack run. The wasp had reflexes that would make most ninjas envious as it dodged each swipe. Naruto was sure his nose was going to be swollen in a few seconds, until several lines of sliver flashed passed his face and shredded the wasp.

He blinked, looked for the projectiles that had saved his nose, and his ramen, but only saw the sodden pieces of the wasp. He turned to Hinata and saw that she was holding her modest cup of water, that prickled with a luster of spikes, formed for simple water, ready to fire. She released her grip and the water settled back to normal.

Hinata regarded the stunned Naruto until he broke the silence.

"that was amazing. Since when could you do that?" he asked excitedly, his previously besieged ramen completely forgotten. Hinata blushed as she told him about when she had been captured during the mission for the scent bug. Naruto leaned in close and bombarded her with questions about how she manipulated water. Hinata was more than happy to tell him, as it broke the silence that hung over them.

Half way through explaining how she fed her chakra into the cup Hinata looked up and saw that the clock in the stall showed that she was close to being late for her training session with Neji. While her bond to her cousin had grown stronger over the years, to the point where they trusted each other with their lives and respected each other as formidable ninjas, Neji still was a stickler for punctuality.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun. I have to go now, Neji is waiting for me at the training grounds. I'll see you tomorrow; I should have some ideas for practice by then." Hinata rose from her seat.

"Ok Hinata I'll see you. Have a good time training, I can't wait to help you kick butt tomorrow" Naruto said with sparking energy. He too got up from his seat, but half jump off as opposed to Hinata stately rise.

"I look forward to it. Thank you again for the ramen." Hinata said, bowing in thanks. She glanced once more at the clock and took off, jumping up onto the nearby low roofs and dashed in the direction of the training grounds.

Naruto stood dumbfounded. The way that she had gotten onto the roofs, she looked like she was free of the chains of gravity. Naruto shook himself.

He knew now. It was her, he was sure of it.

Despite what people often thought of him, Naruto was not as dumb as he seemed. Far from it, he had the ability to see the small things that nobody else noticed but made up the greater picture. The only time anyone else had noticed this was just before his first chunin exams, when he saw the scars on Rock lees hands. Scars that showed the bowl cut ninja was determined in his pursuit to become more that the screw up, something that Naruto could relate to. Over the years of training, he had finally started to become more observant, but his knack for spotting the little things was his most valuable tool for information gathering.

When he had stood naked, holding the strand of violet hair, a thousand little things he had know about Hinata all flew together, so fast that he felt his head rush, till it slammed still. All these years and he had not seen her, seen that she wanted him. That she loved him. His heart hammered once again, beat just as furiously as it did under her blissful ministration. It was a feat of willpower to calm his breathing. One hand was already gripping the window frame, ready to propel himself into the night, chase after her. A foot planted on the windowsill when he stopped. He knew that Hinata moved fast and quietly, making her very hard to tracking during the cross group training sessions. Plus another thought had entered his mind. What if he was wrong? He had feelings for Hinata, he had for a while now, so what if he was just hoping it was her. If he confronted her about it and he was wrong.

Oh god that would be one of the biggest mistakes of his life. Naruto brought his hands to his head, still with his foot at the window, and groan in frustration. This was too much for him to work out, not quickly at least. He need to find out that it was her, to be completely sure. He would find out, covertly. But what to do afterwards? The groan turned into growl. He stepped back from the window and collapsed into his chair. He racked his brain that night until he feel into an uneasy sleep.

Naruto became aware of the here and now again, the smell of the Raman, the feel of the counter top beneath his hand. He had held off confirming his suspicions until he knew what to do. Iruka-sensei had given him the advice and he now had the information. He felt quite smug about how he worked it out. The questions about the juyken had given him more insight into how exactly her fingers had felt so good. The leaf in her hair had been one he had secretly thrown into the silken locks from a distance; all those years of shuriken training came in hand for a lot of things. But Naruto was unprepared for how good it felt to run his fingers in her hair, even for a second. After he had removed the leaf all he wanted to do was slide his fingers back into the soft mass and pull her in to kiss her. Plus he had been close enough to her to smell her scent, it matched the wonderful fragrance of that night. It was what she said to him that had caught him off guard, but had confirmed everything that he suspected. She wanted to tell somebody something that could be good or bad. Plus the fact that she had asked him to training to tomorrow alone had clichéd it for him.

In any other situation he would just have gone to meet her and they would have talked but this was no ordinary situation. There was too much of a chance that either of them would run away from this. Naruto had balked at Iruka-sensei's advice at first, but it seemed that it was now the more viable option, the one that would have the least amount of confusion and awkwardness, even if it was extreme. Naruto looked at the clock and decided that he had much to arrange. Paid for his meal, turned and left the half eaten bowl of ramen on the counter, before he quickly came back and wolfed it down. No sense in leaving perfectly good ramen to was there, he thought to himself.

The moon hung open that night, the sleeping goddess roused slightly, gazing somewhat more intently, through her languidly sleep, upon the semi lit streets of Konoha. The demi suns of the street light created pools of light in the prevailing darkness. What the goddess would have saw in those small bastion of illumination was a lithe figure passing between light and shadows as she jogged down the dirt street. Each increasingly harsh clomping foot step puffed a small cloud of dirt into the air, affixing a brown overlay to the legs of the light purple trousers of the runner, becoming a viscose leech, sapping the moistening sweat from the runner's legs.

Hinata ignored the appalling feel of dampening fabric nor did she pay any heed to the slovenly slapping sound it made as it latched and pulled away with each pump of her leg. She did not care about the slickening sweat that coated her body, the heat that seared her body, a counterpoint to the frigid air that filled her lungs with each breath. She was only dimly aware of the protesting of her muscles, every single one throughout her body, as they propelled the kunoichi through the dimmed streets. She could smell the stinking tang of the sweat but she cast away any concerns about the contaminating liquid even if she could feel it coat her face, making hair sodden hair cling to her face with a fervent grip.

Her body did not matter to her right now. It was doing its job, to get her completely exhausted so that she could sleep. After her training session with Neji she normally relaxed in her favorite garden with in the family compound, sipping simple tea and reading. But this day it could not remove the vibrant pulse within her as it ebbed through her, making stillness almost impossible. The tea sat cooling beside her until cold and her eyes had dimly scanned the same two pages of her book over and over again. Her mind was focused on one thing.

Training with Naruto the next day.

Second thoughts were far away, she was still determined to tell Naruto everything, even the thought of what to say did not perturb her. She was not going to plan her words; she would just forget when she stood before him. She would trust in her growing courage to say what she need to say. Tomorrow a part of her life would change forever and a new one would begin. It was the thoughts of this new life that catalyzed her body and mind into a jittery state. She had started pacing with in the garden, while she envisioned so many scenarios of the coming day. Dread mad many of the possible futures almost unbearable to see, even as they played out behind her violet eyes. Love and hope re scripted the images into beautiful tableau, full of gentle sweeping breezes and soulful embraces as they poured their hearts out to each other. One other emotion accompanied the others in their turbulent mental picture show. Lust.

The rebellious passion for Naruto made her see images of them locked to one another. Lips pressed together as desperate hands roamed and groped the other all the while pulling off bothersome clothes. Hinata blushed deep as she thought about the blonde shinobi pushing her down upon the ground and taking her as she moan into his ear, her hands clutching his firm back and locking her legs around his hips, pulling him close to her. Torrid shows like that had kept her in a state of unrest for the remainder of the afternoon. She had left the garden, the tea and book long forgotten, and procced to one of the indoor dojos, a private place for her to quietly expend some of the troublersome energy. She had slow moved from stance to stance, gentlely struck invisible oppents and breathed deep. None of that had work. The unsetteling crackle still persisted and charged her past the point of calmness. Hinata knew that she would need to sleep, she would need every ounce of alertness to see him the next day and being tired would rob her of her faculties. After another hour of gentle exrcise she decided to increase the demand of her training. The heiress no long calmly moved in a serne dance of grace and power. Now she moved with the ferocity of a rampant tornado. Her hands and feet became a blur, lacning out and piercing none existent foes as she pushed her mind to focus on all the vital points of an enemy. The franctic pace demanded much of her mind and body, both foucsed of perfection during the rapid series of stikes and steps. With a final thrust of her hands, both arms snapping out after her body spiraled out of a roll, her fingers where her enemies hearts would have been, Hinata stood motionless apart from the heave of her chest as her lungs drew in much needed air.

Her body still tingled and her mind persisted with its mental turbulence. Even as she relaxed her stance she felt the vibrant energy fill her once more. Her muscles throbbed slightly but she felt that she could for miles. Hinata normally ran at this time. But today she needed to do more than she had even conceived possible.

Hinata started by doing laps around the compound, which turned into laps around the village, which finally turned into to a full on blitzing sprint throughout the village. She barreled down the empting streets, vaults from the ground to roof and back again. An obstetrical course of urban design filled her vision as she transverse all of it with the grace and speed of a master ninja in the making. Even as it got dark, Hinata was not dissuaded from her task of burning the instant pulse that filled her. Eventually, mindful off the number of people opening their windows to catch a glimpse of the midnight runner of clattered against their homes; Hinata took to jogging through the streets.

Which lead her to where she was now. The violet haired girl had no real idea where she was, only that she was in the poorer side of the village. She knew that she had been running and exercising for hours, and that she would be sore tomorrow, but that did not matter as long as her voice worked she would be able to face him. The ground exhumed another small puff of dirt as Hinata's feet finally slapped to a stand still. The amount of force she had put on her body had finally taken a toll. Her body trembled, making standing a conscience effort, as she blinked to keep the sweat from her eyes. She would have wiped the sweat away if it was not for her hands placed firmly on her quaking knees in an attempt to remain balance. Hinata dare not sit down, if she did she doubted she would stand again until dawn. After a few minutes of deep breath, all the while willing her body to stabilize again, Hinata stood up, wincing as the sweat damp cloth of her clothing stuck and slipped over her, it reminded her of the time she had been cocooned while looking for the scent bug.

Despite the discomfort that she was under Hinata smiled as she looked up at the unblinking moon and smiled wide, it was almost that the weight of her smile made her head loll backwards. She smelt bad, she was sore, she was not even sure if she could work out her way home. She had done it.

Her mind was blank. All the images that had played throughout the afternoon had finally stopped. The once insatiable tingle of energy had finally dimmed, replaced by the dull ache of the punishment she had inflicted on herself. With her head feeling incredibly heavy, Hinata brought her gaze back down to earth and surveyed the street. She had ran far this night but she had come across one of her normally routes. If she had the strength she would have chuckled at this turn of events but instead she settled for a almost dopey grin. Hinata was glad that it was so later and that it was not likely she would come across any members of her family here. They surely would have something to say about the heiress of the clan to look so foolish, like a drunken slob with hands so heavy they pulled her shoulders down. Even thought all she wanted to do was collapse on the street floor Hinata pulled herself up straight, straining to gain a more dignified posture, and turn to go home to rest. Now she did notice her foot steps and how lethargic her legs felt. She was glad that the dull hum of over worked muscles had replaced the tingle from before but now she noticed that the tingle rested with in her belly. As she slogged her way down the street Hinata was perplexed, as much as her weary brain could comprehend, about how the warmth started to spread, filling her body, then her limbs till eventually it crept up her face. It almost felt like a blush but there was nothing around to cause it.

All ruminations about what caused the invading blush as the warmth turned into a giddy high, her steps becoming more unbalanced and her eyes swaying her vision from side to side. It was quite pleasant, like being wrapped in a warm blanket. Hinata was just aware of her feet failing as gentles blackness took her. Strange, she did not feel the kiss of the ground as she fell, instead it felt like two strong hands caught her and brought her into cradler ling arms. Hinata sighed peacefully as the arms carried her away, so comfortable, such a relief.

Cool.

Warm.


	9. Chapter 9

part 9

Cool and warmth. These were the first sensations that Hinata felt as she roused from her content sleep. She felt cool soothing air upon her skin as a radiant warmth dispersed throughout her body. Despite her body feeling blissfully numb, having not fully awoken yet, Hinata could still feel the soft bed beneath her molded to her back comfortably giving her abused muscles much needed relieve. As she wiggled deeper into the saggy bedding Hinata gave a languorous stretch and gave an almost throaty growl of approval, ending in a blissful sigh. She had done it. She had managed to tire herself out so much that she slept well enough to face Naruto this day. Once she had woken up her body she would be able to prepare.

Hinata spent few moments quietly reveling in the sensation she was under. It reminded her of the rush of wind that buffeted her body whenever she ran, using her ninja honed speed and agility, during a hot day. The heat of the sun that was pushed away by the chilled that she created. She adored that feeling, much like she cherished the feeling of languid muscles gentled supported by a nice bed. A thought crossed her mind as Hinata stretched once more, arching her back slightly, since when had her bed been this spongy? Her bed was a fine piece of comfort and craftsmanship, which was incidentally the most modest that she was able to find in the family compound, Hinata tried to avoid most of the extravagant luxuries that others of her clan indulged themselves in. The bed she lay upon felt well used and worn, like it had been bearing the brunt of some ones weight from more than just lying down. Now that she thought of it, her room smelt odd.

Her room normally smelt of the flowers that she picked herself from the small gardens inside the compound, see even arranged them so when she left a window open the breeze would swirl their scent around the room. But today he room smelt, stale. It didn't smell unpleasant, just that there was no sense of anything moving within the air, she liked to keep her room light and breezy. It now smelled musky, like it had been lived in for a long time, the smell of years of some one's life instilled into the very air its self. Hinata sniffed a few more times, her nose winker ling with each intake. The room smelt of worn old wood, the kind that would creak when walked upon, but it gave a damp earthy smell, mixing with another scent that she could detect. Dirt, more precisely the smell of dirt that clung to clothing and would ingrain its self deep into a small space if not cleaned quickly. Most people would say that the smell was bad, like a moldy lump of wood. But to Hinata it put her into the mind of a forest after a shower of rain, mossy logs and proud trees dappled with a light covering of water, giving birth to the revitalized smell of renewed plant life.

Maybe she forgot to put the clothes she had been running in away after she had got in for the night, that would explain the musky smell. Plus, she might have neglected to change her flowers over, she did have a lot of things on her mind lately. Hinata breathed deep again, let the earthy aroma mix with the feeling of the soft bed beneath her. She considered have in a fresh log in her room, a small one, just to give the forestry smell again.

Wait. What was this new smell? There, just beneath the earthy one. A tangy tint, trying its best not to be noticed. Now that she knew it was there Hinata was acutely aware of the smell of cleaning fluids, used about five hours ago. Someone had been cleaning like crazy and it was not Hinata, she rarely used chemicals in her room, preferring to use water and natural elements to clean her room. There was one more scent that hovered on the edge of her sense of smell. Several in fact, different…_sniff, sniff_… flavors. It smelt like.

Ramen.

Hinata's eye brows shot up as she opened her eyes, or at least when she tried to open her eyes. When she could still only see blackness Hinata realized she was blindfolded. Within a second her combat honed instincts kicked in, she activated her Byakugan. Darkness still prevailed against her eyes. Whatever was covering her eyes was also blocking her chakra from reaching her eye. She tried again, sending more chakra to her eye but stopped when she became aware of the rest of her body.

The post sleep numbness had subsided and Hinata found that she was naked. Hinata gasped in surprise and sat up, but fell back down with a more another shocked gasp. Hinata's head hit the saggy pillow behind her and arched her back as her body was assaulted by an invasive and wonderful sensation. She now knew why she had felt both cool and warm at the same time. During the period that she was unconscious, now firmly believing that she had been drugged, Hinata had been stripped naked. But instead of being left unclad whoever had undressed her had also tied her up, in fine silk ribbons no less. Hinata's arms were bound comfortably under the small of her back, no to tight to cause any pain but just enough to deny anything more than a tiny amount of squirming room for her hands. It was not her hands that caused Hinata concern, although they should have been, lengths of silk had been used all over her body. She felt the pattern they made against her skin. Snaking away from the binds holding her wrists, more ribbons slide up each of her arms, twisting and turning as they went, making diamond patterns from her bare goose bumping skin, broken up by a loop of softness that coiled it's self around here arms, holding the vertical lengths in place. At the top of her arms the ribbons glided across and over her shoulders, hugging them closely as they wrapped round the underside of them. Several spans of the wonderful feeling material slid up her neck and swirled into a soft collar that sat kissing her neck as she arched her head back when she gasped. Hinata blushed furiously, more than she had done in a long time, when her reeling mind attained that the silk went further down her body. Once more it spiraled down her body, fingers of the tender fabric caressing her generous chest before slipping down to her waist, where they met another belt of silk. The silk upon her breast forced Hinata to stifle a moan. The silk had been swaddled into a scantily makeshift bra, leaving portions of her supple flesh bare but rubbing lazily against her most sensitive parts. The breathy gasp that Hinata had loosed before pressed her nipples against the binds, causing a flush of involuntary rapture. It made her breath heavily, which only made the silk feast upon her more vigorously. Whoever had tied her up, reasoned Hinata, had a very creative sexual imagination. The ties would loosen and tighten as she moved and breathed. Each twist of her body would cause one ribbon to relax its grip while another pressed firmly into a sensitive spot on her body. Her top half felt like it was being gently tickled by a hundred feather tips, apart from the more forceful binds upon her breasts.

But those paled in comparison to what the binds upon her hips and legs were doing to her. Spreading out from like a sensual spider web from the silken belt around her waist. The ribbons graced her hips before interlacing over her woman hood. The supple threads had been woven into a pair of exquisite panties, which were tied to the ribbons that ran down her legs in the same fashion as her arms had been bound. Her Legs, while decorated in the silk, had been left unbound, with the ribbons stopping just above her feet. There was nothing to stop her from standing up and finding something to undo herself with. Apart from the fact that the sensation that the silken binds were provoking succeeded with crippling her with pleasure. She could barely move an inch without another ripple of sensual pressure to build within her. If she sat up, she hastily reckoned, she might orgasm.

Hinata stopped moving, lying as still as she could. She mentally resisted the mind numbing jolts of debauch pleasure that she was still feeling. So soon after forcing her body into a stable cool state this assault upon her body was almost too much. Part of her was begging to stay there and writhe around, letting the silk bring her to a feverent climax. But her other half screamed at her, this was a bad situation. She had no idea who had done this to her or where she was. They had been gentle, she knew that much. The place she was in felt comfy, while being a bit run down, and the silken ties spoken of someone who did not want her in any discomfort, quite the opposite. Hinata prayed to the heavens that someone had not worked out what she had done and decided to do the same to here, to fill the gap in her life that she wanted Naruto to fill.

A squeak of a loose floor bored made Hinata snap her head in the direction of the sound, an action she wished had done more cautiously since the silk pressed firmly into her heaving bosom.

'Who's there?' she asked, surprised with the fraction of determination her voice had mustered despite how borderline distressed she felt.

Naruto grimaced as he held his foot still. Stupid floorboards, he should have done something about them before when he was cleaning the apartment. The accursed piece of substandard wood had given away his presences and now Hinata was blindly looking in his direction, her magnificent body half covered in the silk he had bound her in. He had been stood there waiting for the sedative he had slipped into her ramen to wear off. He was grateful that sedative was crafted that it would only take effect after the recipient had been through intense physical performance. Only Naruto was shocked by how much Hinata had done that day. Naruto had little idea what drove her to such extreme measures but it must have been severe for her to put her body through a workout they would have made Maito Guy feel weak. After he had left the Ramen stand he had been covertly following her, using all the of stealth skills he had finally picked up over the years, to watch her throughout the day, observing for any signs of the sedative kicking in. He knew that Hinata often did a late night jog near the area he lived in but he had not expected to spend most of the day barreling around the village. He was worried that the sedative would kick in during one of her jumps through the air. Fortunately it did not, thus avoiding her having a rough landing. Naruto had noticed her getting unbalanced in the street and had rushed forward to catch her before she fell.

He stood there for a few moments, cradleing here in his arms, as he looked down upon her face. She looked so beautiful, even in her disheveled state with her hair slick with sweat. She was not some primp and aloof nobleman's daughter. She was a ninja through and through. He gazed down at her perfect face as she sleepily nuzzled into his shoulder, a tiny smile gracing her lips. How could he not have seen it before? She had liked him for so long and he had not noticed. Naruto felt a pang of guild when he thought about all the times he had chased Sakura and not realized that Hinata had feelings for him. Some could say that Hinata should have told him about her feelings but Naruto knew that those kinds of confessions were hard to make, even for him. He felt bad that his almost selectively oblivious nature had pushed her to take the lengths that she did. then again, his own confusion had lead him to some very unusual advice, with unconventional actions. At first his stomach had squirmed at the idea that Iuka had gave him. His former teacher was quick to explain to him that this was not a normal situation. If he had confronted Hinata this night, talked to her about what had happened that was the risk that, while Naruto would say otherwise, that Hinata had gone too far and any relationship they would have would be marred by the specter of guild. Guilt, which if left for a long time, could fester into paranoid fear, one that could explode later in time. Iruka had told Naruto that in situation it was advisable to 'play by their rules'. Why the scared Chunin had said 'their rules' was a mystery to Naruto, one that he had paid no attention to during the clearly insane conversation he had with the older ninja. But it that conversation was insane why the hell did it make sense?

Hinata's steady breathing had told him that she was firmly asleep, and that it would be a good idea for him to get them both off the dark street. Naruto had rushed back to his home, which had been given a dutiful cleaning spree, but still smelled a bit musky, before laying Hinata down upon the bed. He had blushed furiously as he removed her clothes with fumbling fingers and found himself gazing at her naked form with wonder and building passion.

Wow. Hinata looked so beautiful. Every inch of her was perfect, almost every man's dream woman. Naruto had decided to do this with the lights off but with the window open, with the same sound blocking jutsus that Hinata had used the first night, which had been lucky enough to reactivate, thus the moonlight rolled into his room, illuminating everything with its muted glow. Naruto had frozen, just sat next to her on the bed, looking at her, mesmerized by how the moonlight made her skin glow, making her seem like a mystic maiden, too breathtaking for this world. He had bitten his lips, so very tempted right there and then. He held the silk in his hand ready to continue with his plan when he had stopped. Hinata had shifted slightly, a content sigh whispered over her lips forming them into an adorable pout. He had watched this and felt his resistance crumble. Naruto leaned in and softly kissed her, just a bare taste of how sweet she tasted. He had stayed there, just reveling of the soft feeling of her lips, barely moving so as not to interrupted the wonderful feeling. Naruto reluctantly broke the kiss, wishing he could have just laid down next to her and enfold her in his arms. But he needed to do this otherwise the results of the first night and the beginning of this one would hang over them. If either of them felt guilt it would cause a barrier to rise between them.

Guilt. Naruto felt that now, coming back into the moment, his eyes locked upon Hinata's enshrouded eye. He wished he did not have to cover them up, she had such wonderfully deep eyes. But he felt that it was necessary to blindfold her, it made him feel more in control of the situation, allowing him to ease them both into the situation.

He could understand now why she did the same to him, if she could see him; he knew his wavering courage would fail him. (rework this bit)

If she started freaking out or worse he would let her go and try to discuss the situation with her. Naruto felt a quiver of appreahension run thought him as he looked at Hinata. His eyes locked upon th blindfold that enfoled hers. He had slipped her forhead protector up from its cutsomeray place around her throat to her eye. But he had been cautious of her Bayukan and placed a sealing scroll ontop of the neatly polisehed metal. The fact that Hinata had voiced her question proved to Naruto that the seal had worked, he gussed it have been worth listening to Ero-sennin during his traning.

It also proved that now was the time and he could not dwell on what could happen any longer. With a heavy gulp Naruto swallowed all of his fear and raedy himself to deliver his answer.

'It's Me Hinata.' He said with n almost faltering voice. Strange it was a simple statement but Naruto had never said anything so difficult. Hinata Visably tensed, her whoel body locking into a ridged freeze. Her mouth fell slack and began to quiver.

'N-n-naruto?' she whispered, the look of fear growing upon her face.

'Yes.' He whispered back. Evidently Hinata was more perceptive than he was.

While it was a mild night Naruto, who had stripped naked just like Hinata had done the fateful night, felt cold as the seconds stretched out, each out punctuated by the dull thud of his heart. He became aware of everything around him, the sound of the wind slipping in to his room through the gaps in the ill fitted windows. The tiny ridges and groves in the wooden floor beneath his bare feet. His body had entered a high state of alert, on the precipice of panic. Only his eyes remained focused, for that had fixed firmly upon Hinata's face, her expression of shock and terror fuling Naruto's state.

Her mouth closed, forming a grimace.

'I'm sorry.' She sobbed, as tears darkend the fabric of her blindfold.

Naruto's eyebrows shot up, so taken aback by her sudden apology.

'What for?' he said, not noticing how stupid it sounded before it left his lips.

'…I was so scared. I didn't know how to tell you, everytime I came close to telling you something would make me stop.' Hinata's voice tumbled from her lips, unbound by the knowledge that she had now where to run now, nothing to hide behind.

'I've loved you for such a long time, I told myself that I would build up the courage some day to tell you, face to face. But I dreaded missing the chance of that.'

Tears had overwealmed the blind fold and seeped down Hinata's cheeks. Naruto's chest lurched as she continued.

'I went to Kuernai-sensei for help but I told someone else. They gave the idea to do what I did. I should have put it out of my mind, but it stuck there and…I gave into it. I know it was wrong of my to do that but I… didn't want to miss my chance.' The pale skinned woman's head fell with shame. 'It was wrong of me to do that, to make you feel like that and then run away. I'm truly sorry Naruto, I really am. But,' she lifted her head to look towards where his voice had come from, 'I really did mean it. I do love you.'

Hinata took several deep breaths. 'I understand why you did this.' She said her voice heavy with regret. 'I deserve this. You have every right to want revenge. I truly am sorry.'

'Why would I want revenge?' came Naruto's voice, softened to a gentle whisper. Hinata flinched at how close his voice was. She realized that in the midst of her confession he had crossed the room, herself to involved in forcing her voice out, and he had sat down on the bed next to her. She felt his body heat, just like the other time they were both together in his room, and she flushed at the thought of him naked again. His question had eradicated any slither of guilt form her, and now him being so close to her was slowly burning the rest of the grim feeling away with her bodies building desire. This was certainly not the time for her body to start rebelling against her.

'I'm sorry as well.' Naruto said gently. Hinata's covered eyes widened in shock. What was he apologizing for?

'I should have seen it,' he continued, 'That you had feelings for me. But I chose to chase after Sakura, when I should have stopped and looked and saw you. I'm sorry that I did that.'

'No Naruto you have nothing to be sorry for.' Hinata said, trying to persuade the blonde that she was in the wrong.

'Actually,' he said with a slight smile, 'I think we have both been wrong, and rather foolish.' He finished with a small chuckle that made Hinata relax somewhat.

'Then why am I tied up?' she asked. She heard a rustling sound and figured that Naruto was scratching his head like he did when he was nervous.

'I got some advice as well. And it kinda stuck too.'

'Some one advised you on how to get revenge?' she asked incredulously.

'No I never wanted revenge. I care for you to much to even think about that.'

'Then what do you want to do?'

Naruto saw her wonderful chest heave at the sustained breath that she held. He knew just how to answer. He leaned forward, feeling her body heat mix with his own.

'This' he said simply and kissed her.

Hinata gasped, the breath trapped with in her mouth, gently sealed by the soft kiss. They stayed still for a moment, enjoying the soft tingle of their lips touching, Before Hinata let slip the breath as a sigh as she leaned in toward the blond ninja. Naruto moaned as he felt the increased pressure. He slipped a hand up to the back of her head, letting his fingers be enveloped by the soft purple strands, as he hungrily pulled her in close. They both moved their lips now, rolling them over the others', trying to entice the most pleasure out of the kiss. Their tongues meet each other in the tiny void between their mouths before the gap closed and they rolled and battled over each other. The kiss had started gentle, but was now becoming more heated as they increased the speed of their passions. Both Hinata and Naruto started to groan softly, breaking apart slightly, to breath, while creating a delectable yearning to be joined again. The hand behind Hinata's head ghosted away from its soft haven and moved down to her slender neck. There it danced feverishly over the smooth skin, send tremors of bliss thought out Hinata's body outwards from his questing fingers. Hinata's whole body shuddered as it came under the duel assault on her sense.

But without his hand to hold her head in place Hinata had to hold herself up, which was difficult in her bound position. She pushed herself forward, eager to get closer to the blonde. When she feel backwards with a moan, breaking the kiss, and flopped backwards onto the bed. The silk that held her had grasped several of her most sensitive points of her body as she had leaned forward, the sudden shock of sensual pleasure had overwhelmed her and sapped all the strength from her limbs. As she rolled her head into the spongy pillow, Hinata felt her nipples beneath the silk hardened again as her woman hood became wet with excitement. Every time she gave a shuddering gasp the silk would pull into her again drawing more exhalations of frantic lust from her open mouth.

Naruto surprise was momentary as he felt Hinata's gorgeous lips suddenly detach from his and watched her fall back and moan towards the ceiling. The Silk. He had forgotten all about that. During his planning a swift flash of devilish inspiration had shot into his mind. During his training he had been so bored after being left in the motel room again as Ero-sennin had gone out on one of his "research" trips that he had read one of the books that the old pervert had left in the room. The book pertained to the use of ropes and other restraining items during sex. Naruto had blushed furiously as he read the first page and slammed the book down. But he could not resist the urge to look again and pick it up and hesitantly read it. When he had got back to Konoha, he had found another copy of the book and brought himself one, under the disguise of a large coat, hat and the darkest pair of shades he could find.

He had chosen the most complex method of binding he could find in the book , but it was also the one that would give the most pleasure to the person being bound.

As he heard Hinata's ragged breaths he became worried that it was all too much for her.

'Hinata? Are you ok?' he asked with a shaking voice. A few more gasps escaped her mouth before she was able to form any words.

'The silk…it…it feels' she managed between the growing moans.

'I'll untie it.' Naruto said hurriedly as his fingers reached for the knot at the collar at Hinata's throat.

'NO.' She protested. Naruto's hands stopped in the air. a look of surprise upon his face. 'It feels good.' She continued. 'I like it. I just need you as well.' She finished as she left her head roll back even more.

Naruto smiled as he let his once motionless hands drift to Hinata's beautiful face and lightly ran his finger tips over her soft skin, letting them trail down her checks just the top of her neck before bringing them back up again. The bound heiress tried to move her head into the sensual touches but everytime she did another would bloom on another part of her face. Naruto felt his body plush with desire as he watched Hinata smile in-between moans as she moved for his fingers. One of his digits trailed closed to her mouth and Hinata enveloped the wandering finger in her lips. Immediately it was held in place and assaulted by her tongue. Naruto's face turned red as she swirl her tongue around his trapped figure. Hinata suckled, trying to take in more of the figure with eager lips and Naruto obliged her. He slowly let his finger delve deep and shuddered with anticipation when she sucked hard upon it. He mind was briefly cast back to the night that she had him tied to the bed and the amazing feeling of her mouth upon his member. Naruto pulled his finger out, letting it rub against Hinata's pouting bottom lip, before letting the wet digit run over the ivory skin of Hinata's throat. Hinata groaned as Naruto stopped the finger at the hollow of her throat. Naruto moved his finger, to make room for his hungering mouth.

The blonde tasted the deliciously salty taste of Hinata's sweat upon her body as his mouth suckled and kissed her throat. Without breaking contact Naruto's mouth roamed over her neck line, before coming back up. Hinata gasped with each movement, feeling the soft press of his lips of set by the ever increasing force of his suction. A barely stifled cry passed her lips when he mischievously nipped at her collar bone. The dreamy sigh that followed prompted Naruto to use his teeth in several other places, staying on the side of her neck for a prolonged feast when he attacked a certain area that sent Hinata into another fit of groans. He traveled back to the hollow for one last kiss, leaving the skin glistening and slightly red, before removing his lips with a wet pop.

Hinata, bound but arching her body as much as she could, became aware of the break in contact but still rode upon the wave of sensation that his lips and the erotic binds had swept her away on. She was just adapting into the warm glow that her body had settled in, feeling the cold air starting to leech the immeasurable heat from her body when her senses erupted once more.

Naruto had delicately trailed one of his hand to rest just on the side of Hinata's face, pushing a few locks of hair from her face, while the other came to rest upon the tingling skin of her shoulder. His face hovered above hers, his eyes marveling once more at her beauty, before the last vestiges of his control broke and he dove in for another kiss. They moaned together for an instant, there tongues doing battle again as they tasted the sweetness of each other with as much vigor as they could manage.

Naruto let his body fall, molding it against hers, and felt his body explode, reveling in the softness of her body. He had felt her wonderful her body felt with his hand the time before but this was almost overwhelming. He felt the hard trained muscle just beneath her giving softness and could not get enough of the feeling. He pulled her closer, the hand next to her head sweeping once more into her hair, while his body touched hers' pass the silk ties.

Hinata moaned deep into Naruto's mouth, for her dreams were coming true a second time, this time closer to how she imagined it. Naruto wanted her, she could feel how much he did with the way he now pressed himself against her. Her mind swam once more as his chest came into contact with hers, pushing up her generous bosom while the silks pulled once more, enhancing the experience. Her eyes widened in shock then slipped to a half lidded dreamy look beneath the blindfold when she felt his eager manhood press against her lower regions. Even through the silk, she could feel the shape of his penis, the contours, the thickening for tip to base as his hips instinctively, hungrily, ground against her. Hinata felt the silk covering her lower region grow wetter as a instinctive growl rumbled from within her throat. Her legs enfolded around Naruto waist as her hips began to buck and grind, forcing Naruto's member to press harder against her.

Naruto, slightly startled by the unconscious act of sexual aggression, let out a strangled groan as he felt he felt his penis being rubbed against the silk. Hinata's deepening moans nearly robbed him of his self control, his every instinct begged him to give in and grind against her until satisfaction. His plan to sexual elevated Hinata to the point of ecstasy was working, almost too well. But if this kept up he would climax, and this was not how he wanted to do it.

With a suppressed growl of frustration Naruto removed his arms from Hinata's body and pushed himself up, With Hinata's legs still firmly wrapped around him, her strong muscles attempting to pull him back down. Naruto felt a shudder go through him with each thrust of Hinata's hips, his member straining almost painfully as his suppressed his towering desires. Hinata gave one last thrust before the stimulation of the silk made her body weaken again. Her legs slipped of Naruto's hips to fall limply to the bed as she panted for breath, her body and mind reeling for the unsatisfied heat that infused her whole being.

After a few deeps breaths Naruto looked down at Hinata.

'Oh Hinata.' He whispered without realizing. He lowered himself to his elbows and kissed her softly. Her lips fought his once more, but robbed of their past vigor. Hinata was almost reveling in the receding heat of her body. That was until she felt one of Naruto's hands slid over her coved breasts, her skin tingling beneath his touch. She breathed deep when his hand settled over the mass of silk cladding her breasts in the center.

Naruto took hold of one of the ends of the lopsided bow, knot tying was never one of his strong points, and gave it a gentle tug. The silk released Hinata's bosom with a whisper and fell in a loosened mess around her breasts. The blondes hand rested for a moment in the valley between her firm breasts before moving to one of the soft mounds. His fingers gentle enclosed round the base one of her breast and began to squeeze slightly.

Hinata's moan renewed in earnest as his hand coaxed the heat to swell up again. Her hand dug into the soft mattress beneath as started to squirm again. Her moans turned to muffled screams as his hand press more firmly into her breast. It felt so good yet so agonizing. Naruto's grip was concentrated on the bottom of her breasts. She longed for his hands to stimulate the top of her breast, for his fingers to play with her nipple again, to feel the rush of lust that she had felt last time. Hinata felt his weight shift and his lips leave her. Puzzlement crossed her mind until she felt his other hand encircle its fingers around her nucleated breasts. Hinata's screams, now unfettered by Naruto's soft lips, filled the room. Naruto marveled at the soft flesh in his hands as Hinata's screams filled his ears and push his restraint once more. The sound of her voice crying out in pleasure for him was almost too much. As he hands worked upon her chest Naruto summarized that Hinata's biggest turn on spot, of at least one of them, was her breasts. He could not keep the mischievous smile from the corner of his mouth as he changed his grip. He relaxed his fingers and slid them up on to the sensual peaks, but took care with his fingers to miss her nipples. With his fingers splayed over the soft skin Naruto began to squeeze again, a bit harder this time and was reward with more fervent moans from his bound lover. He let two of his fingers close slightly towards each other, putting the barest pressure on Hinata's nipples. The scream that follows made Naruto very glad he had put the sound blocking jutsus in place. He felt her whole body tense as she screamed, only to collapse down onto the bed as she breathed heavily, pushing her breasts into his eager hands.

All the books he had blushingly read about stimulating a woman had given many suggestions but Naruto was very glad he had gone with the method of gradually stimulation and teasing. He switched between rolling her breasts with his hands to alternatively pressing his fingers firmly down, even trying both at the same time, with filled his ears with more sensuous screams. But he decided that he really should do something she really would enjoy.

Naruto leaned forward once more, stole another kiss, which Hinata was barely able to return, before moving his face over her breasts. Naruto's eyes glazed over with anticipated pleasure as he lowered his head, his lips almost touching one of Hinata's nipples. He let his hot breath wash over the pink peak, causing Hinata to whimper, before he engulfed it all at once with his lips. Hinata did not scream, she simple threw her head back and let all her breath out in a gasp as her mouth quivered between being wide open and a smile.

Once she was able to breathe again Hinata's moans came thick and heavy. He was so good at this. He had kept her on the edge for what seemed like a life time and then had suddenly given her what she wanted. He sucked hard on her nipple while his tongue flicked over the tip. If she had her hands free she knew she would have them wrapped up in that wonderfully spiky hair and would be pressing him down upon her breasts with all her worth. But they were tied behind her back but she was more than happy to let Naruto do it the way he was doing it now. He sucked hard on one nipple before releasing it with. Hinata almost whimpered in complaint before his mouth fastened around her other nipple. His mouthing swirl around the tip as he sucked once more before he flicked it over the tip, pressing hard every so often before flicking it. His hands still work upon her but the nipple not in her mouth was treated to his finger and thumb, doing their best to mimic the same actions of his tongue. Naruto kept switching between each mound, making sure not to neglected one for the other. Hinata sank into the pleasure he was giving her. Her hips had begun moving on their own again, seeking his member but only able to gain the lightest tough against his penis, Naruto was half laid on his side, unknown to her trying his best not to just press against her and lose himself again. Hinata felt Naruto stop for a second, almost as if he was hesitating. Hinata looked down, or at least she would have if she was not blindfolded, and shocked by Naruto next action. With a tentative nip Naruto had taken one of Hinata's nipples gently in between his teeth and gave it a slight tug.

Hinata was surprised that she actually like the slight sting of pain that accompanied the pleasure. She gave a whimper that turned into a sigh when he did it again. Her vocal approval must have given him more encouragement because he pulled again, a little harder this time while his hand pulled at her other nipple. When she had Naruto tied to the bed Hinata was surprised by the thrill that had ran through her when she thought of having him under her control but now the same type of thrill ran through her at the opposite though. Being in the position she was in now was turning her on so much, more than any of her dreams of a "typical" night in the bed of her love had been. She supposed that she was what some might call a pervert but she found that admitting that she liked that kind of thing did not feel bad in any way. It felt almost liberating. Before she lost control of her thoughts again, Hinata prayed to the heavens that if was not to be the last night together that Naruto would be open to experimentation, she knew she was.

Naruto was relieved that Hinata had not mined him biting. She liked him biting her neck and shoulders so he took a gamble and tried it on her nipples. The sounds she made had him wanting to try more, but this was not the night for that, maybe another time. Naruto let go of the slightly abused nipple, giving it another quick kiss, almost if he was apologizing, before his lips fond the skin of her abdomen. The silk cobwebbed over her flat, toned stomach but Naruto did not care. He trailed his lips down, kiss skin and silk, pressing his lips hungrily into the soft flesh. Once again he marveled at the hard muscle just beneath the pearly skin. Good God, Hinata was beautiful. She was perfect in his opinion. His mouth found her belly button and Naruto grinned again in mischief. His hands were still on her breasts, taken up their gentle kneading again so he could not use them.

Hinata felt his breath upon her belly and could hear the small chuckle in his voice. "oh no" she thought. She hoped he was not going to do that again. He silent pray was ignored as he felt his tongue brush rapidly against her belly. She clamped her mouth shut and tried her best to resist but she could not. A fit of giggles erupted from Hinata, causing her whole body to quake as Naruto tickled her with her tongue. His playful nature would always come through thought Hinata with a smile.

Having satisfied his want of merriment Naruto stopped playing. He now licked with firm thick strokes, the whispering sighs told him without looking that Hinata had gotten over the giggling fits he had persuaded from her. She tasted so good, he could not get enough of her. He let his tongue swirl in her belly button before kissing down towards her woman hood. He could smell her want for him so much now. The silk was damp with her sweet juices. He hovered about her womanhood, letting his breath bathe it. Then, quite deliberately, he gave Hinata's bound vagina a slow prolonged lick. He felt the jolt go through her and tasted her sweetness through the silk. He could not hold back anymore. He removed his hands from Hinata's wonderful breast and brought them to rest on her powerful yet delicately feeling thighs. He took hold of the bow that held the improvised panties together and pulled. He heard Hinata's excitement and relief as he the silk came away, revealing her glistening woman hood. Naruto took one look sniff, reveling in the hypnotic smell, like a butterfly drawn to a flower, before letting his tongue sneak a taste. Hinata jolted again, and again with each tiny flick of his tongue. Naruto began to lap up her juices in earnest now, since he had grown confident with what he was doing and applied more pressure, his tongue roaming very part of her womanhood. Hinata was really bucking now, her whole body reacted to his touch, it was if she was trying to come into contact with as much of him as possible. He groaned deep as her legs wrapped around his shoulders, feeling her pull him in closer. Naruto wanted to try more so he held her thighs open, but had his hands though enough so that he could part Hinata's vagina. With tentative fingers Naruto parted the soft folds and marveled at her beauty. Hinata was now lost to her screams as he delved his tongue in, deep as he could, pushing in for his worth. He found that she made different sound if he moved his tongue in certain ways. He pushed in and out, swirled round and round, licked up and down, fast and slow, sending Hinata's body shaking with each new assault. It was during an extra long lick that Naruto hit a tiny bump that made Hinata buck all at once. Curious now, Naruto parted the wet folds a little more and saw the pink, smooth nub of Hinata's clitoris. Naruto ruefully and silently thanked his pervert teacher for giving him a basic understanding of the human body. Despite all his protests in the past he was finding those teachings very useful now. He let the tip of his tongue meet her clitoris, and Hinata bucked again, this time with a strangled cry. He had made her wait long enough this night. Naruto wasted no more time teasing her and kiss the little pink pearl. Hinata's head thrashed from side to side as her body moved on its own volition, her hips trying to pushing Naruto deeper into her. Using his hands to steady her Naruto sucked firmly on her clitoris, switching between sucking and flicking the bud with his tongue. He move his tongue up and down and battered it side to side, each eliciting more moans form the breathless Hinata. He could feel her body tensing up, building towards orgasm. Since it worked so well before Naruto decided to give biting another try. With the tips of teeth barely toughing Hinata's clitoris, Naruto gently bite down. Hinata's body lock out straight as the most impassioned scream of her life filled the room. After a few seconds on blissfully paralysis Hinata's body quaked and quivers, riding the aftershock of the joyfully received orgasm.

Naruto stayed where he was, returning to his gently lapping, matching Hinata's reducing rhythm of her bucking. She settled down back onto the mattress, her legs limply upon Naruto's shoulders, who was greedily licking up her renewed juices.

'Ow.' Hissed Hinata.

Naruto looked up, startled to see a look of discomfort upon her face. She seemed to be keeping herself as still as possible, each movement brought a winch to her face.

'What's wrong Hinata?' Naruto asked his voice laden with concern.

'My shoulders are killing me.' She said through gritted teeth. All the exercise she had done earlier that day ad proved effective but she had forgotten how badly her muscles would seize up if she did not relax them before sleeping. With all of her thrashing and her body being stimulated so expertly her muscles now screamed out in agonizing protest. She could barely life her head the pain between her shoulders was so great.

Naruto looked up at Hinata until an idea came to him. He slowly removed himself from between Hinata's legs and sat next to her. Gently he slipped his hands underneath Hinata's back, causing the girl to hiss in pain once more. With as much tenderness that he could muster Naruto pulled Hinata up till she was half sitting and placed himself behind her, his legs on either side of hers.

Hinata wondered what Naruto was doing Until she felt two strong thumbs press themselves into the sore flesh of her shoulders. Slowly, Naruto worked his fingers into her abused muscles. Hinata sighed and let herself relax into him. With each motion of his fingers she felt her tension melt away. She softly cooed now, fully sinking into the moment.

'Lower.' She whispered. At the hushed request Naruto move his hands down and rubbed her back, then shifted his hands down further. Hinata let her head fall back, resting it on his shoulder, as he continued to work of all the kinks in her back. Hinata smiled dreamily when Naruto planted a few soft kisses on her neck before placing a finally one on her lips. Once again their tongues flicked and rolled over each other. With a blush realized that she could taste the last vestiges of her essence upon Naruto's lips. They broke the kiss and Hinata licked her lips, taking up the last of her flavor. With a silent confession she decided that she tasted good and she could see why Naruto had so greedily lapped her up.

Naruto's hands had move back up to her shoulders and resumed their past ministrations. Hinata felt so much better now but she could feel her nether region twitch again in desire. She was about to tell Naruto that she felt much better when she felt something press against her lower back. With a smile she realized that Naruto was still very excited, he had just taken the time to make her feel more relaxed. She had a better idea to get his attention.

Naruto gave a startled gasp as he felt one oh Hinata's delicate hands grip the tip of his penis. He had bound her at the wrist but she still had enough movement for this. Naruto shuddered and buried his face into her shoulder as she slowly rolled her hand over his tip. Her fingers felt wonderful as they explored every part of his head. Naruto was glad he was sat down when Hinata's other hand took hold of his shaft, for his legs would have surely lost all strength.

It was awkward at first but Hinata was able to get a good hold of Naruto's member. She could feel every bump and vein, as well as his breath upon her neck as softly moaned. She moved one hand slowly up and down as much as she could while with the thumb of the other pressed the digit into the tip f his penis. Each shift in movement brought another moan from Naruto, each more guttural than the last. She increased her pace now, letting her hands glide smoothly over his shaft while her thumb continued to tease his tip. Hinata yelp slightly as she felt Naruto bite down on her shoulder. She could hear his muffled groans as he fought to keep control of himself.

'It's ok, don't hold back.' She said softly to him. Naruto groaned deep and brought his hands to her breasts again. Gone was the measured touched and kisses. His hands grasped firmly, seeming to be everywhere on her breasts as once. Hinata, pressed on by his frantic touches, pumped furiously now. His fingers pinched her nipples as she used both hands to pump his shaft. Both of the lovers were lost in the pleasure that they were giving to each other. Hinata felt his penis quiver, hovering on the edge of bliss. Just a few more stokes she thought as his hands continued their work upon her breasts.

Naruto growled in frustration, which surprised Hinata, and took hold of her arms, holding her hands still. She felt his member twitch violently, just short of cumming.

'What's wrong?' she asked. Her blindfolded face trying to turn towards his.

'Nothing.' He gasped 'you're just too good. I don't want to cum just yet.'

'Why not?'

'Because we haven't done it right yet.'

'What do you mean?' She asked, now very course. She had been so lost in the moment that she had forgotten about what she really wanted.

Naruto kissed her then gently laid her back down upon the bed. He moved back to between her legs but he positioned his hips next to hers. Hinata could feel his body hovering above hers, and swooned when she felt his lips find hers again. His hips ground against hers, his member brushing against her womanhood. Hinata bucked back, trying to capture him within her. Naruto broke the kiss.

'Hinata, do…' His question was cut short by Hinata firmly wrapping her legs around his hips and pulling him towards her. Naruto lost his balance, landed on his elbows and found Hinata hungrily kissing him after finding his lips in the dark. He guessed there was no need to ask at all.

He growled in anticipation and positioned himself at her entrance. He gently slide into her and felt his eyes roll back. He had been in her the other night but it still shocked him how good it felt. Hinata moaned even loader than before, her whole soul going into making love with Naruto again. They continued to kiss as Naruto slowly rolled his hips back and forth. Each movement sending shocks through his body. Hinata wrapped her legs tighter around him and began to thrust back. After a few awkward moments they matched each others rhythm. Sweat began to coat their bodies as they moved together. Naruto gave one deep long thrust and Hinata broke the kiss and screamed in pleasure. Encouraged by this Naruto withdrew himself, till only the tip was left in and thrust back in until his hips met hers. Hinata pushed her hips up each time he pushed back in trying to meet him half way. Naruto was now panting hard; his frame pressed upon Hinata's feeling her wonderful breasts beneath him and her flat stomach with every nerve in his body. She felt so wonderful. How could he have not seen her sooner?

Naruto yelped in pleasure as Hinata bite into his neck, as she tried to keep from screaming more, jutsus or no jutsus. Hinata's legs pulled him in again, losing all thought Naruto began to thrust by instinct now. His mind was fogged with bliss; he had no space for thought.

He moved one hand down until he help Hinata's nipple and began to pinch and squeeze the nub. Hinata let go of his shoulder and was kissed by Naruto. They could not press their lips together completely; they were too busy breathing in ragged gasps. Their tongues battled in the void between, their eyes closed as they gave into their bodies. Naruto felt Hinata tighten with each thrust, now frantically moving his hips to and fro. He could tell that she was nearing her limit; he was nearing his as well. His fingers matched he busy pace of his hips and he whole body was hanging on the verge of ecstasy. It was only desire to see Hinata as happy as he would e that made him hold back till he felt Hinata's womanhood quiver. She was about to cum as well. He gave a few finally thrust and made to pull out of her. But Hinata had other ideas.

She could feel herself about to cum, but she wanted to feel Naruto up until the last second. As she felt him pull out, knowing he was close to the edge, she pulled in with legs. The unforeseen final thrust push Naruto over the edge and he screamed in pleasure as he emptied himself into her. Hinata came a split second after him, her hips bucking up and down, pulling more moans out of Naruto.

They lay there, as still as they could apart from the tremors that shook their bodies in post orgasmic pulses and the slowing heave of their chests. After a few panting breaths Naruto traced his fingers softly across Hinata's flushed cheeks, brushing a few strands of her violet hair behind her ear. He softly kissed her, feeling her heartbeat with his chest, his own matching her soothing rhythm. The shaking had stopped and all Naruto felt was the tingle of his body, and the blissful sensation in his heart at having Hinata in his bed again, but with the situation reversed. He wished that he could stay in this moment, such happiness that he had never felt before. But he knew he had to say something, even if his very soul was rebelling against anything that could upset the moment. He broke the kiss and drew prepared to speak.

'Why?' asked Hinata. Naruto's mouth hung open, stalled by the soft question she had asked. He might have chuckled at the reverse of the situation, the same question asked before she answered and ran. He understood why she had run. Being caught up in the rush of sweat and each other's body it was easy to quite all the nagging voices in one's head. But afterwards through returned along with any doubts. She did not need to ask who he was; he had sealed his fate now on that subject. His heart pulsed with a murmur of fear. She might never want to see him again. She could tell her father about what had happened, which would bring shame upon her for the first night and… Naruto did not want to think about what could happen after tonight. She laid there beneath him, perfectly still her body heat washing off her. She was in his bed, in his arms…and she had said that she loved him.

Loved him.

He let those words play over in his mind; each mental repetition washed his fear away. He knew what he was going to say and what he was going to do.

He moved off her, sat on the edge of the bed and reached a hand underneath her. His hands found the knots binding her hands and he leaned in, his lips next to her ear.

'I love you.' He breathed and undid the knot.

Hinata's heart froze at those words. In a second her mind recalled how she had said those words, released him and ran away. He was going to do the same, he was going to run. What would they do after that, would they pretend nothing had happened? Meet in secret? What?

The second ended, Hinata's hands pulled the blind fold off, and her legs were swinging of the bed as she readied herself to bolt to the window and catch Naruto. She did not have t go far; he was still sat on the bed. His athletic body bathed in the same leeching moonlight as she was, his sincere blues eyes looking into hers. She gazed in shocked at him.

'You're still here?' she asked.

'Would you like me to be somewhere else?' he said, mischief twinkling in his eyes.

'No!' declared Hinata and with that she threw her now librated arms around him and pulled him back down onto the bed. Naruto cried out half startled when he found himself on his back, with Hinata on top. Her lips were on his in a second kissing him with all the passion she could muster. He was still here and she was not going not going to let him go. Hinata's inner voice, the one that had whispered such thoughts into her mind, was now exulting to the heavens that Naruto was hers. Her hands found refuge in his blonde spikes, where they grasped and roamed in delight. Naruto's hands and similarly entangled themselves in Hinata's violet tresses.

They broke the kiss, and gazed into each other's eyes, feeling their hearts beats together in a soothing rhythm. An embarrassed smile spread across Naruto's face.

'Did you ever imagine that this would how we would end up together?' he asked.

'No.' replied Hinata. 'This is even better.' A thought just crossed her mind, a possible slip up from Naruto. 'You said imagine. Does that mean you've been thinking about us as well?' she inquired, her anticipation rising.

'Yeah.' He replied shyly. 'For a while now. You've been on mind a lot. At first I didn't really know why I was thinking about you so much but then I realized that I liked you. I kept telling myself I could never be with you but I couldn't stop. I mean you're part of the most powerful clan in the village and I'm just me so I was prepared to spend the rest of my days loving you from afar but then that night you tied me up threw all my thinking sideways.'

Hinata looked into Naruto's eyes, blinking several times.

'You've loved me for so long?' she inquire, her voice barely above a squeak.

'Yeah, but not as long as you've loved me. I still feel kinda bad about that.' He confessed. Hinata pulled herself towards him and buried her face into his neck in pure delight.

'Don't ever feel bad about that Naruto-kun.' She breathed. 'And you being you is so much more than a clan or standing. I love you Naruto and always will.'

Naruto clutched her tight. She really did love him. Naruto felt the empty place in his heart, the void that had been there for so long, swell with warmness, fill to the brim and spill over into his whole being. She loved him.

'But what about your family? Will they allow this?' He asked. The Hyuuga clan could be a problem, he felt his growing warmth cool slightly.

Hinata burrowed deeper into Naruto's neck.

'My father cast out a lot of old traditions and one of them was arranged marriages, since it lead to inbreeding and unhappy marriages. So even if they don't like it, the clan has no say in who I chose to have relationships with.' Hinata's yawned deeply. 'Actually quite a few other young members of the clan like the fact that rule is gone now.'

'That's a relief.' Naruto said. 'What would you like to do now Hinata?' he asked. But she had already answered. Hinata was asleep, her gentle breath brushing against his neck. Naruto smile and placed a kiss upon her head. He thought about getting up and retrieving the blankets. But with his newly realized love lying in his arms Naruto decided that blankets were not really necessary. He let his eyes slide close as he drifted into the most blissful sleep.

The two lovers awoke feeling the warmth of their bodies' mingling with the warmth of the first rays of sun. Naruto opened one sandy eye and let it look up out the window. It was a beautiful morning, with the few clouds in the sky illuminated by the sun, which also warmed his naked skin. But on that day it could have been a tremulous squall and Naruto would still have been happy and content. He had his whole universe in his arms at that very moment. He buried his nose into Hinata's hair and breathed in her scent. There were a few things that needed to be done today, but they all seemed like such trivial things to him at that moment. A gentle "good morning" announced that Hinata had not been asleep s he had nuzzled her and a few soft kisses on his neck stirred his passion once more. Neither of them had discussed making love that morning, they just gave into each other. There in the tangled mass of silk and disturbed bed covers they made love to each other, like normal lovers, both giving and taking as much as they could.

No talk about what they were going to do in the future was needed; they knew what they were going to do with their future. The only question was what that would do that day. Naruto pulled on a pair of pajama bottoms while Hinata got the top. The sight of Hinata wearing only her panties and his top made Naruto blush, to which Hinata could only giggle at the change of roles at that moment. While they drank some tea, which Hinata made since Naruto had look at the instruction incredulously, seriously if it didn't have noodles in it what was the point of boiling the kettle, the two ninjas decided that they should go out for lunch, since neither of them had the mental agility that day for anything too complex.

Naruto uncharastically suggested a few of the restaurant in the village, namely the one that had the best menus for couples, meals made for sharing. Hinata pondered this for a moment until she smiled warmly at her boyfriend and said she was in the mood for some ramen. It was so sweet, she thought, for him to think of something she might like instead of ramen. They could try those other places another time, ramen and Naruto would be all she needed that day.

Hinata's heart sang, accompanied by the triumphant voice of her desire, as she and Naruto walked hand in hand towards Ichirakus. Naruto smiled as they walked. Somehow they had both pulled it off. They had sorted out their feelings for each other, even after the hectic means that they had expressed themselves. Naruto blushed slightly, since they were now official and everything was settled there would be one real call for them to do anything like they did the nights before. The blonde Ninja was as happy as he could be but he felt and odd twinge of regret that would probably never do anything like that again.

But he pushed it out of his mind once they had arrived at Ichirakus, he was sure they could come up with many great things to do with each other, that morning had been more the pleasurable. The two sat on the seats, almost falling off as they leaned in close to one another enjoying gentle conversation. The happy couple broke of their conversation when they spotted another happy couple walking towards them.

Anko and Iruka also walked hand in hand, but they both looks disheveled but still content. Iruka was sporting a dreamy smile and a few odd bruised on his neck, ones that matched several on Anko's neck. He would remember next time that his love was and expert of escaping restraints. He had been enjoying having her at his mercy when she grinned in triumph and latched her arms around him and pulled him close to her, cackling as they ravaged each other. A good night all-around.

They heard a call of greeting coming from the ramen stand and saw the two younger ninjas sat in a way that made it clear that they were together. Anko and Iruka shared a smile and went to join them, with Anko sat next to Hinata. The four of them chatted for a while, all of them radiating an aura of joy.

Anko leaned back and stretched her arms over her head. She turned her head and caught Hinata's eye. The wink she sent towards the violet haired ninja told carried all of her congratulations and best wishes for the two of them, mixed with mischievous glee. Hinata sent a wink back, glinting with mischief as well, which made Anko chuckle.

While the two women were subtly communicating the males leaned forward and talked silently to each other, albeit not with the same style of the woman. Iruka raised a questioning eye brow at his former student. Naruto sent back a thumbs up which Iruka sent back with a smile. Anko relaxed her arms, and her mind. She had been a bit worried about what was going to happen between Hinata and Naruto, desire how she had confidently told boyfriend that they were made for each other. There was just one thing she had to do.

Tomorrow was the day of the festival so Iruka had to finish off the last of his paper work, then he would be free. He was both eager and dreading the last of his load. He and Anko said their goodbyes and left, but not before Anko whispered something quickly into Hinata's ear. The snake ninja walked away, smug once again, as the Hyuuga heiress blushed. After the two older ninja had left Naruto asked, somewhat shyly, if Hinata would join him at the festival. Hinata broke away from her thoughts and cheerfully accepted. Naruto grinned and asked what they should do now, since neither of them had any missions or tasks that day. Hinata look at him with what he could only scribe as a sly look. She leaned in and whispered to him, her breath heating up his face. She pulled back and gave a red faced Naruto a kiss. Naruto's eyes were wide as he quickly paid for their meal and took Hinata by the hand and hurried the two of them off, the twinge of regret from before completely gone.

Hinata could only smile. Today was the start of her new life with her love, and she could not wait to get those books that Anko had decided to lend her, such ideas for her and Naruto to use.

END

Thank you all for reading. I'm not too sure if I like the ending, but if i kept it any longer i don't think this thing would get posted for a decade. I would love to hear what you think of this story, bonus points if it gave you any ideas. Thank you once again.

Stunbutt.


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